Squirrel
by ICRepresentative
Summary: She had always dreamed of a better life. Of safety. Of freedom. Of love. Of Jack Sparrow. But will she get what she dreams of? Or is it just another dream? POTC1
1. Watching Sparrow

**Disclaimer**: POTC belongs to Disney, Jack belongs to Johnny D.

**A/N**: I wrote this ages ago. As in, when POTC first came out and I was all in the mood for writing some POTC fanfiction. I wrote this before I knew about but when I did find out about it, I didn't intend for Squirrel's stories to see the light of day. Because she's special. But with some prodding from Tinuviel and Nerwen - my bestest buddies in the world - I would like to introduce my POTC fanfiction to the world. Enjoy, R&R, etc, etc. No stealies.

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There's noise everywhere, from every corner of the dim-lit bar. Endless fights, laughter and general drunken behaviour are the norm. Dice is rolled, rum is served, cards are played, women and men alike laugh at jokes that no-one can hear or understand. Squirrel watches the scene unfold below her, her eyes darting from person to person. Some people she recognises, some she doesn't. But she watches them all, just the same. 

One man takes the dice up in his hands. Squirrel's hands tighten around the quill and scrap of paper she holds. "Four and three." She mutters. The dice roll and bounce on the table. Four and three. The crowd howls. Squirrel makes a note on her paper.

A card game. The man grins, twisting his beard between his fingers. She studies him for a moment. "Full house." He lays his cards on the table. A full house. The crowd howls. Squirrel makes another note.

A man weaves his way through the bar. He's spent all his money on rum. But he owes many people that money. "He's a dead man." Squirrel looks at the man pityingly. As the man leaves the tavern, seven armed thugs follow closely behind, leaving their women and their drinks. They'll be back soon. Squirrel shuts her eyes as the howl of the drunken man reaches her ears. Reluctantly, she makes a note.

She's done this all her life. Make notes on chance, learn to read people, learn to read the flow of the game. No-one wants anything else from her. She makes the tavern money. She's valuable. Even loaded dice cannot fool her, marked or mixed cards cannot trick her. She knows the games of chance. She can read the thoughts of people simply by seeing their faces. She keeps meticulous notes, and they prove she is barely ever wrong.

The door swings open, and Squirrel's eyes dart over to the newcomer. He's a pirate, like almost everyone else here. He sways and swaggers, obviously just off the ship. His fingers are decorated by rings, his dreadlocks by beads. He wears a three-cornered hat, and underneath it is a red bandana. His eyes are dark, his smile charming and cocky. Squirrel feels her heart skip a beat, but at the same time the blood rushes from her face.

"J-J-Jack?" She whispers, unbelieving. She almost misses the next card play, the next dice roll. She busies herself with her notes, but her mind is racing.

Captain Jack Sparrow. An infamous legend, spoken in awed or resentful tones by the men, and giggling snatches by the women. Their stories were often further from the truth than the ones Squirrel had been told. And she'd been told by Jack himself. Not that he knew…

Squirrel treads across the rafters, her leather-soled boots making no sound. Her cape hides her face and form from any prying or curious eyes, but usually people think their eyes have deceived them. She's fast and slight for a girl of her age. She's lived most of her life in these rafters, and now, more than ever, she had a reason to hide in them.

"I'll have a rum, luv." Jack's voice seems like music to Squirrel's ears, even though her doesn't speak to her. The swagger seems like a dance. Squirrel stares down longingly at the pirate from her high perch. Suddenly Jack stops, as if sensing someone's eyes on him. He looks around, then up. Squirrel slides out of sight quickly, heart thundering in her ears.

"D-don't let him s-s-see m-me," she breathes, a prayer to anyone who would listen. "Don't l-let him s-s-see m-me." Voices welcome Jack, and invite him to a game of cards.

He accepts, in high spirits, but Squirrel can sense the pirate captain's eyes scanning the rafters. She waits until the cards are dealt, and then sprints to a safer angle to watch the game. The players she knows well she can read, but to her surprise, she can barely tell what Jack Sparrow is thinking, what cards he holds in his hands. Sometimes a poker face, sometimes the trademark cocky smile, sometimes a scowl or a sneer. But for once in her life, Squirrel is finding it near to impossible to guess what a man is thinking.

She scolds herself silently, thinking the fault mostly hers. Like every other woman in the room, she's falling head-over-heels for his charm and swagger. But she knows she has no chance. Not like this. Not hiding in the rafters. But she dare not show herself. It would mean her death.

"R-r-royal flush?" She guesses. Captain Sparrow throws down a full house. Squirrel frowns, confused, and makes another note. Another failure. Her uncle will not be pleased.

As the night wears on, Squirrel finds it harder and harder to predict the already near-impossible to guess plays Jack might pull off. He joins dice games, flirts with the women, plays with other cards games with other groups of people. And the fact that he gets progressively drunker makes him even more erratic and unpredictable.

"Closing time, you scabs!" Squirrel's uncle cries from the tavern bar. "Get out or I'll skin yer alive!" The patrons of the tavern weave their gradual way out, Jack Sparrow included. Squirrel feels her heart sink, and scurries across the rafters so she can be closer to him before he leaves. The pirate opens the door, then waves a swaying farewell to everyone left in the tavern.

"G-g-good n-n-night…" Squirrel whispers softly, imagining Jack is speaking to her, looking into her eyes… She quickly ducks out of sight again as Jack looks around, again sensing her eyes on him. With a dip of his hat and a slight twirl, Jack disappears from the tavern.

Squirrel dashes across the rafters to her 'shelf', which is, in reality, a cubby of boards nailed together in one of the corners of the roof of the tavern. There are four of them: one in each corner. Her uncle hangs lights from the base of the shelf, to illuminate the tavern. Squirrel hides here when her uncle is searching for her, belt in hand, or when she might've been spotted by a customer and wants to wait until they lose interest in a vague shadow in the rafters.

In the roof of this shelf is a trapdoor, and Squirrel slides through it, shutting it carefully to make sure no sounds are heard by those still in the tavern. The trapdoor leads to the roof.

Squirrel watches from behind a chimney as Captain Sparrow swaggers down the street, singing to himself in the way any drunk would. But they way he moves, the way he speaks… everything makes Squirrel blush like a schoolgirl. _It's because he's a pirate_, she scolds herself silently. _Or_, she thinks suddenly, _is it simply because, as Jack always says, he's_ "Captain Jack Sparrow!"? She sighs, feeling her senses drift again_. I've got no chance with him_, she thinks wryly to herself, _but a girl can always dream, can't she_?

Squirrel sighs again, then scuttles along the rooftop to another trapdoor. She slides inside, notes in her cloak pocket. She pats her pocket to make sure they're there. They are. She lands on a padded mass of rags. Her bed. The room she lives in is small, only two by four paces, and with barely enough room to stand upright. But Squirrel's used to it. It's the way she's always lived. This is her home.

Her home, the island of Tortuga. The fights on the streets never end, the women never stop flaunting themselves, the rum never stops flowing. Tortuga, where every and all kind of illegal comings and goings are tolerated and welcomed. Tortuga, the island fight-ring, whorehouse and rum store all in one. Tortuga, the island no army can overrun. Tortuga, where no-one feels unwanted. Everyone, that is, but Squirrel.

There's a sliding panel under her rags. She opens it and slides the notes into the hollow under her bed. She smiles at the neat arrangement of the hundreds of other papers that are already there.

"It's the o-o-only th-th-thing I'm g-good f-for." She smiles to herself, then the smile vanishes. Tears well in her eyes. Curse the stammer she speaks with! Curse her shy nature, curse her mousy brown hair, curse her timid personality which lets her be beaten and starved night after night in this stinking hole of a tavern! Curse her miserable existence. Everything is meaningless…

Except for her dreams of a better life. Dreams of something incredible happening, something that will change her life for the better. Squirrel suddenly thinks of Jack Sparrow, and blushes furiously again.

"N-n-no ch-ch-chance, stu-p-pid." She scolds herself again. She climbs the wall of her room and clambers out of the trapdoor, discarding her cloak as she goes. Time to clean up the tavern.

Four sailors are still there. They're all regulars, and good friends of her uncle, hence they are allowed to stay well after closing time. Squirrel, all but invisible to them, sets to work with quick hands, gathering the plates, cups and cutlery left on the tables and floors, righting the furniture that was upturned by the endless brawling. As she works, she listens to them talk amongst themselves.

"Aye, this is the best tavern to come for drinks and entertainment," one of them says. "But did you know it be haunted?" Squirrel's ears prick up, and she tries not to make it look like she's listening. None of the sailors notice her though.

"Pull the other one, Sharky!" One of them laughs. "Not another of your ghost stories!"

"But tis true!" Sharky's eyes fly open, shocked. "I've seen her myself! The Ghost of the Grey Lady!" His audience humours him by pretending to listen. But Squirrel listens intently as she works.

"It's said," Sharky lowers his voice conspiratorially and theatrically, "That this young lass was betrothed to a man who was fond of his drink. Like every young lass, she thought she could change him as soon as he married her. But she was sadly mistaken.

"Their wedding night was bliss, but the next night, the Grey Lady's husband didn't come home until the wee hours of the morning. He claimed he was working. And working he was… working away all his gold on drink and women. Drink makes you forget a great many things, and this lad forgot he was married… until he came home, that is."

Squirrel continues wiping down the tables and collecting the plates and silverware.

"Night after night, the man continued to live his life as he always did. Drinking and spending his time with pleasurable company. And every morning he would go home and tell his young wife that he was robbed. Well, the Grey Lady eventually got suspicious."

Squirrel takes an armload of plates to the kitchen and misses part of the story.

"She stood behind him," Sharky continues, lowering his voice dramatically. "Every man in the tavern saw her, saw her standing behind her husband, but the lad himself was too drunk to notice. Finally, anger taking her voice, all the Grey Lady could do was tap her husband on the shoulder."

Sharky whirls, drawing his sword. Squirrel leaps back with a yelp as the sword flashes past her face. The men in the tavern laugh.

"I'm so sorry, Miss!" Sharky says, "But as you can see, I had no idea you were behind me, just as the lad had no idea that the Grey Lady was behind him." Squirrel blushes furiously behind a plate as Sharky seats himself and continues the story.

"The Grey Lady was killed instantly, and the lad, sober now that there was blood on his sword, turned and stabbed himself. So wife and unfaithful husband died that very night. And now the Grey Lady haunts this very tavern, watching silently, watching everyone, watching and waiting…"

"Y-y-y-your…" Squirrel interrupts, and the men patiently wait through her stammering, "S-story doesn't m-m-make s-s-sense, S-s-s-sir."

"Really?" Sharky asks the thin girl. "How so?"

Squirrel blushes again under the gaze of everyone remaining in the tavern. "W-why w-w-would the G-g-grey L-lady hau-haunt the t-t-tavern? W-why n-n-not th-th-the L-l-lady's hu-hu-husb-b-b-band?" Without waiting for Sharky to answer, Squirrel dashes out of the main tavern and into the kitchen. The piles of dirty dishes call to her. She rolls her sleeves up and plunges her arms into the soapy water.

For a few hours, Squirrel is uninterrupted in her chores. Then a single voice breaks through Squirrel's thoughts, shattering the peace that she had scraped together.

"Hello, Rodent! How are you?" It is Dawn, Squirrel's cousin. She calls herself Aurora, puts on false airs, and often helps her father beat Squirrel until she bleeds. And what is worse is that Dawn takes every step possible to beat Squirrel mentally as well.

"Oh, look at this mess!" Dawn picks up a plate that Squirrel has just cleaned. Squirrel had scrubbed at the stains until her fingers bled, but now there is not even a speck on it. Dawn smiles at Squirrel in the way that a cat smiles at a mouse, then drops the plate on the ground. It shatters, fragments dancing everywhere. Squirrel bites back a cry of horror. _Don't give her anything to attack me with_, she reminds herself.

"Look what you did, Rodent! You broke a plate!" Dawn says it much louder than she needs to, and Squirrel's eyes widen. That could only mean that Dawn's father is near.

Ten minutes later, Squirrel crawls back into her room, nursing her wounds. The metal belt buckle had raised welts and bruises, Dawn's claws had cut the skin, and Squirrel's lip is bleeding. Her hands are cut from when she had to pick up the pieces of the shattered plate. And when she staggered out of the kitchen, sobbing, Sharky and his friends had just turned away. They knew about her rough treatment, but they wouldn't do anything about it or they wouldn't be considered valuable customers anymore.

Squirrel curls up on her pile of rags and cries herself to sleep.

_Someone stretches his hands out to Squirrel, saying something, but she can't hear him. She can barely even see him. Squirrel's uncle and Dawn loom like giants in the sky, stomping their feet down every time Squirrel comes near. Her uncle chases her as a bulldog, savaging her, and Dawn chases Squirrel as a lioness, teasing, toying, scratching and snarling. Squirrel runs, trying to find someone, anyone, who would help her. But that figure has already disappeared, swallowed up by black clouds and salt water, leaving Squirrel stranded on an island that is rapidly disappearing into the ocean._

Squirrel sits up, panting. She can tell it is morning by the golden light streaming through the boards of her room.

"J-just a d-d-d-dream." She wipes the cold sweat off her brow, but knows in her heart that it is no dream. She is hunted everyday by what's left of her family. And people offer to help, but by the time Squirrel can reach them, it is too late. The people Squirrel wishes she could trust can never keep their promises. So she is always alone.

Squirrel goes down into the tavern to finish her chores. Then she begins to cook her uncle's breakfast. Dawn will probably not be here. She has a lover now, and she sponges off him, eating his food and spending his money.

Squirrel fries some eggs, cooks a sliver of meat left over from last night, puts it on a plate, and delivers it to her uncle's room. He's asleep, another woman by his side. Squirrel leaves the meal just inside the door, then goes downstairs to find something for herself to eat.

She walks down to the beach, her cove hidden out of sight of the city, and sits on the sand, chewing quickly on the cold meat she managed to scavenge. She watches the waves crash gently on the shore, listens to the gulls curse as they fly around the harbour, listens to the sailors and pirates argue or sing. Squirrel hums along with an extremely boisterous group of sailors as they play their flutes and keep time by stomping on the deck of their ship.

_It's funny how I don't stutter whenever I hum_, Squirrel thinks, _or stutter when I think_. _But it's just as well, or I'd never be able to understand myself_.

She licks the remaining meat juices off her fingers, then rifles in her cloak pocket. She smiles sadly, pulling out a handful of nuts. As the sun climbs over the ocean, Squirrel munches away at the handful, thinking wryly that this was the very reason she earned the name 'Squirrel' in the first place.


	2. False Hope

**Disclaimer**: see first chapter.

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The rest of the day passes uneventfully for Squirrel. As always, she keeps away from the tavern as much as possible, for she knows that she will be beaten if she is seen by her uncle. She finds perches on the pier, sometimes sneaking on board a ship to watch a card or dice game. She's welcome at the docks. Sharky and his friends work there. He avoids her eyes as she walks down the pier towards him. 

"Good day, Miss. Pleasant weather, wouldn't you say?"

Taking a deep breath, Squirrel speaks. "Is th-there a-a-anyone's sh-sh-ship here tha-that I c-c-can hide on-on? I w-w-w-want t-to l-leave T-t-t-Tortuga."

Sharky looks down at his feet. "Again, young Miss, I have to tell you no. There's naught here that would risk having a woman on board. Besides that…" Sharky looks up at the sky. "Your uncle has threatened to kill anyone who helped you off Tortuga."

"W-w-well s-s-screw h-him!" Squirrel says bitterly, scuffling her feet on the pier. "W-w-what's s-s-so s-s-special ab-about m-me th-that I-I c-c-can't l-leave?" Sharky shrugs, and a disappointed Squirrel turns on her heel to go. She turns so suddenly that she almost bumps into a pirate.

He grins at her, and tips his hat. She gives a nervous squeak and dashes away.

"Nervous little thing, isn't she?" Sharky jokes to the pirate. Squirrel jumps up, clambering in the rigging of a ship and climbs back towards Sharky and the pirate, keeping high out of sight.

"Aye," the pirate agrees, "Nervous as a squirrel, she is." Squirrel grins, despite herself. She's often mistaken for a boy. This pirate was the first to recognise her for a female. _Must be my hair_, Squirrel thinks, feeling the length of it. It had finally started growing out of the short cut that her uncle had hacked it to.

"I couldn't help but overhear, mate." The pirate continues, "But that lass in the grey cloak wanted off Tortuga, aye?" Sharky nods. "Well, I may just be her ticket off this barren rock." Squirrel frowns, but inside her heart leaps up as a spark of hope is lit. A way out! She wishes she could see his face, to know who to thank.

"Are ye doing this out of kindness, sir, or are ye honestly trying to help the poor girl?"

The pirate shrugs. "I do whatever I please, savvy?" Squirrel's heart stops, then starts again at twice its normal rate. There's only one pirate in all the Caribbean who says 'savvy'. Captain Jack Sparrow. The hot red colour floods Squirrel's face, and she jumps down from the rigging and runs back to the tavern before she can hear anymore.

Another false hope. Jack would not save her. Not even in her dreams could he save her. She can read the games, she can know the chances… but she has no luck, no chance, herself_. That is the way my life has always been_, Squirrel thinks, tears stinging her eyes.

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A/N:** I don't normally do long chapter stories. Aside from my CSI fics. And my chapters are usually short, like this one. However, in the Squirrel story, the chapters are usually pretty long. This one is not. Don't you feel special? Reviews please. 


	3. Dawn's Presence

**Disclaimer**: Clicky first chapter.

**A/N**: This story may or may not continue to be posted here. This story, while finsihed, need your love and support to continue being uploaded. (Translation: i have issues, review positively please?)

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This night passes like any other. She hides in the rafters, cloaked in grey, taking notes of the games below. She guesses another roll correctly. She predicts another play. She hides from curious eyes and scampers from corner to corner under cover of candlelight and bar fight. But then Jack returns to the tavern, ordering rum again. He is invited to another game, but does not take it. He instead sits down at the bar, swigging his drink. 

Dawn, helping serve the drinks, giggles and flirts. "I'm Aurora," she giggles, lowering her bodice, then pushing it higher, forcing her cleavage almost out of her clothes. She extends her hand, expecting it to be kissed. Jack, barely looking at Dawn, turns her hand over and puts the empty bottle into it.

"Another rum, Aurora."

Dawns face cracks into an ugly scowl. But Jack doesn't notice. He's busy scanning the crowd in the tavern, looking for someone. Squirrel slinks back to her cubby, feeling strangely guilty. She feels Jack look up at her… but too late. She's already out the trapdoor, out onto the roof.

Squirrel didn't tell her uncle last night that Jack Sparrow had a luck that she couldn't read. He would only beat her again. Sitting on the roof, looking up at the stars, Squirrel can taste the salt breeze coming off the sea. The sea: her only way of escape. But at the same time, the only thing that keeps her here. Squirrel sighs, touching her bruises and cuts gingerly. She can't swim, and she's too weak to earn her keep any other way than watching how the games are played so her uncle can know what he and his friends should bet in order to win everyone's money.

In other words, she's cheating by helping others cheat.

Again, the same cycle of thoughts. She should've never revealed this skill to her father, who in turn should've never revealed them to his half-cousin, Squirrel's uncle. Squirrel's parents' bodies were found floating under the pier that next morning, and Squirrel was taken into her uncle's 'care'. How long had it been? Five, six years? More? Squirrel herself is surprised that she isn't dead yet.

But she's valuable. So he makes sure she knows who's in charge. And she has no way of escaping. This is her fate.

Squirrel slinks across the roof, opens the trapdoor, and shuts it behind her. She lands on her pile of rags, and lights a tallow candle on one of the shelves. Its pale light floods the room, adds shadows under Squirrel's already bruised face. She scrambles under the rags and pulls out sheaves and sheaves of ink-stained papers. Her notes. Without a word, Squirrel takes off her cloak, fashioning it into a make-shift bag. She clambers out of her room, blowing out the candle as she goes.

She stands on the roof of the tavern. There's barely any breeze, but there is enough. And the fights in the street will help. She climbs as close to the edge of the tavern roof as she dares, then reaches into her cloak and pulls out a fistful of notes. She brings her arm back, preparing to throw the sheets of paper over the edge.

But something stays her hand.

"A-all I'm g-g-g-good f-f-for." Squirrel says bitterly. She climbs back into her room and relights the candle. She spends the rest of the night sorting through her list, organising then, lining them back up in her secret compartment.

At the end of the night, Squirrel climbs back down into the tavern and begins her chores again, leaving her cloak in her room once more. Collecting the dishes, cleaning the tables, righting the tavern furniture. She is not strong enough to throw out the drunks, though. Sharky and his friends do that for her. They still won't look at her.

In the kitchen, Dawn is waiting. Squirrel feels her heart beat faster in fear. But Dawn is uncaring about her cousin for now. She walks around the kitchen, talking to herself, throwing up her hands.

"… And then, that …" she screeches in fury, unable to find the words. "He had the nerve to just turn his back on me! 'Another rum, Aurora'. That bastard!" Dawn notices Squirrel coming in and ceases her rampage. "Rodent, I'm hungry. Make something." Squirrel bows her head and hurries to the larder, glad not to be mauled by her cousin's words, if only for a moment. But she feels her stomach lurch. Dawn is not in a good mood after being ignored by Captain Sparrow.

Squirrel lights a fire under the metal plate which she uses to fry eggs and grill meat on. She watches Dawn out of the corner of her eye, but 'Aurora' is busy muttering to herself and gesturing. Squirrel chews on a handful of nuts while she cooks Dawn's dinner.

"Hurry up, rodent!" Dawn says, giving Squirrel a push from behind. Squirrel only just catches herself from falling onto the red-hot metal sheet. Dawn looks at her cousin, then down at the hot metal sheet. A slow smile comes across her face.

"So," she says kindly, draping an arm around Squirrel's shoulders, "What do you think about Captain Jack Sparrow?" Squirrel stifles a squeak of fear, but can't help her shoulders tensing up. Dawn notices, and grins even wider.

"He's something special, isn't he? I mean, the way he walks, that accent, those hand gestures…" Squirrel tries to untangle herself so she can put Dawn's food on a plate. But Dawn holds her back.

"Answer me, rodent. I know you can talk, even if it sounds retarded." Squirrel trembles, opening her mouth. Dawn waits.

"L-let g-g-g-go of m-me, D-D-Dawn."

Dawn steps back, a strange expression on her face. Squirrel swallows. _What have I done? I just told Dawn - Dawn! - to do something. I am so dead_.

The nails and tight grip come without warning. The plate of Dawn's food clatters to the floor. Squirrel screams in pain, but Dawn only pushes Squirrel harder into the hot metal.

"Think you're better than me? Do you!" Dawn laughs, but Squirrel's piercing shriek drowns it out. Finally, after what seems like an eternity to Squirrel, Dawn releases her.

The poor girl slumps to the floor, whimpering, fingers gently touching the burns that cover half of her body, that have eaten through her clothes. Dawn looks down on Squirrel, triumph etched on her face.

"That'll teach you." Dawn laughs, walking out the kitchen, grinding her dinner into the ground with her feet, "That'll teach you not to think you're better than me!"

Squirrel sits against the kitchen wall, silently letting her tears fall down her face. The salt burns the fresh wound on her shoulder, arm, and across her stomach. She had enough wisdom to turn her face before Dawn pushed her, so there are no burns on her face. But the pain is almost unbearable.

Squirrel staggers out into the tavern, aware that the remainder of the patrons are looking away from her. They won't look at her.

"L-look at m-me!" Squirrel tries to shout, but it comes out as a whisper that no-one hears. She looks around the tavern once, and, seeing that no-one will help her, staggers to the ladder and climbs slowly and painfully to the roof. Squirrel spends the rest of night tending to her wounds, then cries herself to sleep.


	4. On The Beach

**Disclaimer**: POTC is love.

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It's well after noon before Squirrel is able to crawl out of her room and make her slow way to the beach. Her uncle will beat her for not bringing him his breakfast, but Squirrel is beyond caring. She sits on the sands of Tortuga, hidden from the view of the city, her eyes blank and unseeing, but still brimming with tears. She eats the nuts she keeps in her pocket slowly, not only as every movement sends pain up her entire right side, but because she's locked herself away in her mind.

Dawn has won. Squirrel is finally beaten. Beaten beyond caring.

Squirrel sits on the beach, uncaring as the tide rises and falls, and barely notices as someone sits down beside her.

"Why the tears, luv?" Someone asks her.

"I sh-should j-j-just d-die." Squirrel whispers. "Th-th-then I c-can g-get some s-s-sleep. Some p-p-peace."

Some nuts are taken from her hand, and the person beside her crunches through them.

"I was about to ask if you wanted to stay on Tortuga, working for your uncle in that hole of a tavern, but you just answered it." A caring hand is placed on Squirrel's shoulder, and she yelps in pain and curls into a ball in the sand.

"D-don't t-t-touch me!" Squirrel shrieks. "L-leave me a-l-l-alone!"

The person rolls up Squirrel's sleeve slowly, and sees the burn from shoulder to wrist. "Who did this to you?" They ask.

Trembling, Squirrel sits up, unable to look at the person. "D-D-Dawn. M-my c-c-cousin."

"Well, that's not very nice." The figure stands. "I'll have to do something about that. Meet me at the docks if you feel like talking. Until then…" The figure is gone. Squirrel sits up slowly, wishing she had the courage to look the person in the face, to find out who it was that spoke to her.

The surf pounds on the beach, hissing as it releases its hold on the sand.


	5. Save Me

**Disclaimer**: Love a pirate! It does a body good! XP

**A/N**: VeganHippie and Agey, your comments made me go 'eee!' very loudly and i got the warm fuzzies. I feel so loved n-n. Nerwen and Tinuviel, i hope you enjoy reading this again. :)

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Squirrel limps back to the tavern, ducking through fights crowds slower than she usually does. She is seen by many, attacked by a few, but when they see the burns on Squirrel's exposed arm, they back away, fighting instead amongst themselves. Squirrel sees this, and wonders. 

Reaching the tavern, she sees Dawn outside waiting for her. Squirrel hides behind a pile of crates and watches. Dawn scans the crowds of brawlers and whores, looking for someone. Her face is puffy and red from crying, and she has a black eye. Squirrel cringes further down behind the crates, as low as her burns allow. No doubt Dawn boasted to her father that she taught Squirrel a lesson, but when Squirrel didn't return to the tavern, Dawn got a beating for making Squirrel run.

"Sh-sh-she'll k-kill me n-now." Squirrel slumps against the crates, despairing. "She'll w-w-want p-p-payb-b-back."

"Miss Grey?" It's Sharky. He crouches down next to her, hiding out of Dawn's sight. "I may have found your trip off Tortuga. And if I were you, I'd take it now. Aurora's on the warpath, and your uncle's not in the best of moods either."

Squirrel's eyes light up, and she looks at Sharky with adoration in her eyes. Sharky looks away again.

"Y-y-you ha-have n-n-no id-idea how m-much th-this m-m-means to m-me, Shar-Sharky. Th-th-th-thankyou so-so much!"

Sharky smiles, placing a hand on Squirrel's good shoulder. "No need to thank me." Squirrel squeezes the man's hand, and he finally meets her gaze. Sharky clears his throat, embarrassed but pleased at the look on her face. "The ship's moored at the docks. I hope you don't mind it being a pirate ship."

"I-I-I d-d-don't." Squirrel smiles again. Sharky looks up over the crates, and signals for Squirrel to follow him. She does, but only for a moment.

"M-m-my ef-ef-effects!" She nearly shrieks. "I c-c-can't l-leave wi-without th-them!"

Squirrel turns and darts into the tavern while Dawn's back is still turned, uncaring about Sharky's cry of horror and disbelief, uncaring about the fights in the bar that threaten to reveal her.

She dashes up the ladder to the roof, wounds forgotten. Freedom, this close! Squirrel can scarcely believe it. It seems too good to be true. She hurries to her room, scoops her notes into her cloak, and then ties it across her back like a sack. She grabs her other items as well: a bagful of candles, a box of matches and a silver coin on a piece of string. She flips this coin in her fingers twice, then shoves it in her belt-pouch that contains her snacks. She feels like singing. _I'm finally leaving Tortuga!_ She thinks to herself as she climbs out of her room. _I'm finally getting out of this hell of an island!_

She dashes across the railings, keeping out of Dawn's sight, and meets up with a very anxious Sharky, who hurries her to the docks.

"Most crews wouldn't dare take a woman on board." Sharky explains as he and Squirrel run. "But this crew already has a woman aboard, and the captain said that he wanted another on board, just to invite more trouble and bad luck." Sharky makes a face. "But then, Captain Jack Sparrow makes his own luck, doesn't he."

Squirrel nearly falls over. She struggles to keep the redness from her face. "H-he d-d-d-does, a-a-actually." Sharky risks a sideways glance, and Squirrel shoves a piece of paper in his face to distract him from her expression.

"I c-can n-n-never pre-predict h-his plays." Squirrel explains. Sharky raises an eyebrow, about to question her further, but the pair has arrived.

Squirrel is ushered aboard a ship by an anxious Sharky and a welcoming crew. One of them is a dark-skinned woman. Squirrel smiles at her, and the woman smiles back.

"Welcome aboard the Black Pearl." The woman waves from the helm. "Our captain should be along shortly." She comes over and offers Squirrel her hand. "Anamaria."

Squirrel shakes Anamaria's hand. "Squirrel." She smiles, feeling like she would just about burst with joy. The last thing Squirrel remembers is Anamaria's smiling face, and the rest of the crew gathering around her, smiling and welcoming her.


	6. Stammer

**Disclaimer**: POTC not mine. -_clones Jack Sparrow and puts him in her closet_-

* * *

Squirrel sits up, disoriented. Her room was never this big, and there were only skinny candles, not lanterns. She slept curled up on a bed of rags, not in a hammock. Squirrel loses her balance and falls out of it, landing on her wounded side with a squeal of pain. She sits up slowly, holding her arm and stomach. 

These aren't her clothes. Her clothes were burnt, torn and stained with grease and water from working in the kitchens. These clothes are clean and new. And where is her cloak? Squirrel looks about the room, confused, and then the memories come flooding back.

She is on the Black Pearl. Jack Sparrow's own ship, and she's leaving Tortuga once and for all. Squirrel breaks into an uncontrollable fit of giggles, despite her pain. She's free! She's finally free.

A shot is fired outside, and Squirrel silences herself. Scurrying to one of the circular windows, Squirrel cautiously looks outside.

She's still in Tortuga, and the fights in the docks and on the island continue. Squirrel feels her stomach drop. It's after dark, and she's not in the tavern. Dawn's going to be getting hell from her father… And Sharky. Squirrel's eyes fly wide. If Sharky gets drunk and starts blabbing…

"I'm d-doomed." Squirrel slides to her knees and slumps against the wall of the cabin.

There's a knock at the door. It's Anamaria. "Oh, good, you're awake now. I brought you something to eat…" She stops at the look on Squirrel's face. "What's wrong?"

"M-m-my uncle… D-D-Dawn w-will… W-w-why am I…?" Squirrel's many questions start pouring out, but her stutter stops her from asking them. Anamaria puts the tray down on a barrel near Squirrel's hammock.

"Are you alright?" The dark-skinned woman asks, hands on her hips. Squirrel nods, looking away. Anamaria sighs. "I see. Well, try not to worry too much. Yes, we're still in Tortuga. We can't set sail until Jack gets back. And he's still not back." Squirrel looks up into the woman's face, confused.

"W-why is h-h-he go-gone?"

Anamaria shrugs. "Said something about this girl needing manners taught to her." Squirrel gulps. _Dawn…_A second thought strikes. _Captain Jack Sparrow was the man that talked to me on the beach!_

"Anyway," Anamaria says, walking over to a chest. "This is yours. I've put your papers and your cloak in there. Your old clothes too, but in my personal opinion, you really shouldn't wear them anymore." Squirrel looks down at the new blouse and leggings she wears, then back at Anamaria. "Yes," the Negro woman nods. "They're mine. Well, they were. They don't fit me anymore, but they fit you fine." Squirrel can tell by the woman's tone that these clothes are not hand-me-downs. They're brand new, and Anamaria is trying to cover it up. _But why?_ Squirrel wonders.

"What are all the papers for, anyway?" Anamaria asks. "Sharky said you risked your life to go back and get them."

"Th-they're m-my n-n-notes." Squirrel says, twisting a strand of hair in her fingers nervously. "I t-t-take n-notes, in th-the t-taverns, ab-about the g-g-games. Ch-ch-chance, and th-things l-l-like th-that."

"Why?" Anamaria asks.

Squirrel looks away, blushing. "My-my only s-s-skill. M-my only t-tal-talent."

Anamaria raises an eyebrow. "Skill? What do you mean?" She takes a paper from the chest and reads at it. "I don't see how this is a talent of yours."

"I c-c-can r-read p-p-people, know w-w-what they're th-th-thinking. I c-can know wh-what num-number they'll r-roll on a d-d-dice, or wh-what c-c-cards they'll p-p-play in a g-g-game." Squirrel stops, noticing Anamaria's annoyed expression. "Wh-what?"

"How long have you spoken like that?" Ana says, tossing the paper back into the chest.

"S-since I w-was y-y-young."

"Well, stop it." Anamaria snaps. "It's irritating, and makes it harder for me to understand you."

Squirrel bites her lips, fighting back tears. "I c-can't h-help it-it." _Damn it, don't cry._ She chided herself silently. _Not now. Why the hell are you so emotional all the time_?

"Really?" Anamaria walks out, still irritated. "Well, you managed to say your name this afternoon without breaking it into letters." As Ana slams the cabin door behind her, Squirrel sits in silent shock. _I did_? She wonders. _I can barely remember anything that…_

There is a knock on the cabin door. A sailor leans in, and Squirrel rises to her feet, cautiously.

"Sorry about Ana's temper, Miss Squirrel." The man shrugs, smiling. "Ana's not known to be the calmest person on board. Worse than the seas sometimes, she is." He extends his hand, and Squirrel shakes it timidly.

"I couldn't help but overhear you said you had a little gift." The sailor says, stroking his mutton-chops. Squirrel squints at the man suspiciously. _You must've been pretty close to the door to 'overhear' that_, she thinks silently. The sailor clears his throat.

"Y'see, Miss Squirrel, I'm in a bit of an economical crisis right now." He smiles at her. "I was wondering, see, if it's not too much to ask of you, if you'll help me win a few games."

Squirrel, conditioned to take orders her whole life, nods immediately, unquestionably. The sailor seems surprised at her sudden acceptance, but grins and claps her on the shoulder. Squirrel winces and yelps.

"I w-w-was b-burned re-recently." She explains to the startled sailor.

"Ah," the man says with a knowing nod of the head. "So that where Jack be."

Squirrel tries to smile, but fails. _What_?


	7. Monsters

**Disclaimer**: POTC is special.

**A/N**: I wrote Squirrel before I knew each of the crew-member's names. The 'shortest pirate', I discovered later, was Marty. But for the sake of originality - and because Squirrel doesn't know them yet - I think I'll stick with 'the shortest pirate'. Arr.

* * *

"I don't believe it!" The shortest sailor shrieks again. "Just how much are you planning on robbing me, Mister Gibbs?" Mister Gibbs laughs, shaking the dice in his hand. 

"Maybe on your next roll, you might win it all back from me!" He glances briefly up at the rigging, where Squirrel hangs by her good arm from a rope over the pair of sailors. She holds up two fingers.

"Alright!" The short man holds his hand up for the dice. "One more coin, one more roll!"

"Good!" Mister Gibbs grins. "And I bet everything I have on the account that you will roll a two!" The short man grins, and rolls the dice along the deck. It skids, bounces, and stops on a two. Gibbs throws back his head and roars, and the scowling short man flips Gibbs another gold coin. Squirrel grins from her swaying perch hidden in the sails.

Gibbs looks up at her, silently begging for one more play. Squirrel shakes her head, feeling slightly sorry for the short sailor. Gibbs shrugs, grinning.

"Now, we're even!" He slaps the short sailor on the back, tucking the bag of coins into his belt. The short sailor ambles away, scowling. When she is sure no-one is watching, Squirrel slides down the rope and lands squarely on the deck. She takes a moment to regain her balance. _I'm still not used to the ground moving like this_, she thinks to herself.

"Wonderful work, Miss Squirrel!" Gibbs chuckles. He fumbles in the bag and pulls out four gold coins. "Spend 'em in good health!" Squirrel stares at the money in her hands, eyes as big as dinner plates. She's never owned this much money in her life. She looks up at the sailor, mouth opening to thank him…

"MISTER GIBBS!" Anamaria shrieks from the other end of the boat. The whole crew, Squirrel included, wince at the shrill tone and volume of the call. Gibbs makes a shooing motion with his hands, and Squirrel scampers away, tucking the coins into her belt-pouch. She clambers up the ropes, favouring her burnt side, until she reaches the crow's-nest. She sits silently up there watching Tortuga's lights and fights while munching on a handful of nuts.

"Pieces of eight, pieces of eight!" Squirrel jumps at a voice right at her shoulder. She turns slowly, and sees a blue-and-yellow parrot eyeing the handful of nuts she has.

"Pieces of eight!" The parrot flaps its wings, and hops closer to Squirrel. The girl cloaked in grey smiles, and holds out a peanut to the bright bird. It accepts it daintily in one claw and begins cracking it open with its beak.

Squirrel looks thoughtfully at the bird, smiling, then turns her attention back towards Tortuga, suppressing a shudder. She's still trapped here. Trapped halfway. Halfway between the land and the sea. She watches the streets of Tortuga, combing the crowds with her eyes for one pirate, but it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Squirrel sighs, finally giving up on looking for Jack Sparrow. _Of all the people_, Squirrel thinks, biting into another nut, _It had to be Jack Sparrow that saves me_. _And he has to make me worry about him_. Squirrel blushes furiously as she realises what she's just thought. She hands another nut to the insistent parrot.

"A pirate's life for me." The parrot squawks gratefully. "Yo ho!" Squirrel smiles, remembering the song every pirate at the docks sings.

"Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho." Squirrel sings, ruffling the parrot's feathers. Slowly, she realises she did not stammer. The parrot looks at her sideways.

"Here be monsters." The bird squawks. It flaps its wings, launching itself off the crow's-nest and back to the deck below. Squirrel can't help but agree.

"All hands on deck!" Gibbs shouts from below. "Here comes the captain!" Squirrel's heart leaps to her throat for two reasons, one being her freedom. The other, of course, being the one and only Captain Jack Sparrow. She clambers out of the crow's-nest and slides down the rigging. She stands next to a stoic-faced Anamaria, wrapping her cloak around herself, and waits with baited breath for the captain to board.

Jack Sparrow makes his usual dramatic entrance. He marches down the docks, heading straight for the Pearl. He swaggers as he walks, grinning cockily, one hand on his sword. He sees his crew lined up on the deck, and grins even wider. Squirrel's heart quickens. _Is he smiling for me? At me?_

"Good evenin' gentlemen!" Sparrow grins, taking off his hat and bowing melodramatically. "And to the ladies, the four of you." Squirrel's smile freezes on her face. Sparrow's grin grows wider, and suddenly he pitches forward, falling asleep on the deck.

Squirrel stares, heart faltering. Captain Jack Sparrow is drunk. Dead drunk. How is the ship supposed to set sail without a captain?

Without a word, Squirrel turns on her heel and scurries back to her cabin, feeling the eyes of the entire crew on her back.

"H-here be m-monsters." She mutters, fighting back the tears. "This d-day k-keeps get-getting b-better and b-better."


	8. A Pretty Thing

**Disclaimer**: POTC rocks

**A/N**: Anamaria is one of the coolest pirates ever. Respect!

* * *

Squirrel sits on the floor, examining the contents of her belt-purse. The four gold coins that Gibbs gave her, nuts of all shapes and sizes, and the silver coin on a piece of cord. Squirrel picks up the coin and puts it over her head, like a necklace. The silver feels cold and soothing on her skin. Squirrel picks up a gold coin, twisting it between her fingers. It's cold, but not as cold as the silver. There's a knock on the cabin door, and Squirrel quickly scoops the nuts and gold back into the bag. As the door opens, she drops the silver coin behind her clothes, so only the string is visible. For a moment, Squirrel thinks of Dawn. She had an amulet from her lover, and she kept it hidden in the same way. 

"Squirrel?" It's Anamaria. Squirrel stands slowly, burns still troubling her. The Negro woman comes in, carrying a tray full of bandages and clay jars and pots.

"I found these below deck." The woman says, avoiding Squirrel's eyes as she comes into the room. "Burn salves. They'll heal your wounds."

"D-don't d-d-do that." Squirrel says shortly. Ana looks up, confused.

"Do what?"

Squirrel takes a deep breath. "D-don't p-pretend I-I'm not here. D-don't a-avert your eyes. I h-hate it w-when p-people d-d-do that."

"Really?" Ana says, setting down the tray and putting her hands on her hips. "Well, do you want to know what I hate? I hate it when little girls stammer and act afraid, like they have no power."

Squirrel stares at Ana, mouth opening and closing, but sound coming out.

"You're a spineless little worm, you are." Anamaria barks. "Why didn't you stand up for yourself? Why haven't you tried not to speak without a stammer? What are you afraid of?"

Squirrel continues to act like a fish out of water.

"Look at you," She continues, eyes hard. "Hiding behind a cloak. Stop being so timid and weak. You're a shame to all women."

An emotion Squirrel has never felt before explodes out of her, and she barks right back. "Well, excuse me for being who I am! Maybe you have the high life out here on the ocean without anyone trying to kill you everyday, but I sure didn't! Just coz I'm not some everyday run-of-the-mill slut like you doesn't mean I'm a shame to every…" She falters, realising that she spoke every single word without a single stammer. She blushes furiously, rage against Ana forgotten.

The Negro woman stands in shocked silence for a moment, then throws back her head and laughs.

"See? I knew you could do it!" She smiles kindly at Squirrel. "You just need a little motivation to speak proper like the rest of us. Sorry about the insults, by the way." Squirrel shrinks back in her cloak, red as a tomato. _I was tricked so easily._ She thinks, _But I've never felt so good about myself._

"Can we make a deal?" Ana asks, tucking a strand of her wild brown hair behind her ears. "Promise me you'll never stammer like that again, and I won't ever snap at you, alright, girl?"

Squirrel frowns. "Don't call me g-g-girl." The stammer comes without warning. As does Anamaria's knife.

"Maybe you didn't hear me, Squirrel." Ana smiles, pinning Squirrel's arms behind her back and pressing her blade against the cloaked girl's throat. "I said stop stammering. If you do stammer, this sort of thing will happen." Squirrel struggles, fighting back tears and a shriek of pain. Ana is digging her nails into her burned arm and side.

"Promise me?" Anamaria asks pleasantly. When Squirrel does not reply, Ana draws the dagger back and forth Squirrel's neck without cutting flesh. "Say it without a stammer, girl."

Something metal falls to the floor with a clink. As if it is a signal, Squirrel steps backwards, throwing Ana off-balance, making her lose hold of Squirrel's arms. Squirrel spins out of the Negro woman's grip and well out of the reach of her dagger.

"What the hell's wrong with the way I talk?" Squirrel says, too angry to stutter. "Why do you hate it?" But Anamaria isn't paying attention to the cloaked girl. She bends down and picks something off the floor.

"Well, this is a pretty thing." She smiles, turning it over in her fingers. It's a silver coin. Squirrel feels for the cord around her neck, and finds that it has been cut clean through. She gasps, then runs forward and snatches it out of Anamaria's fingers.

The Negro woman smiles slightly at Squirrel. Squirrel quickly hides the coin under her cloak, not letting Ana see where it is hidden.

"A very pretty thing." Ana nods, still smiling. Squirrel looks at the woman in front of her, unsure whether she can consider Ana a friend, or if she should treat Ana as a second Dawn. Before she can make up her mind, though, Ana is out the door, slamming it behind her, the smile still on her face.

Squirrel busies herself with the bandages and healing salve, then falls into an exhausted sleep on the floor, curled up in her cloak. She holds the silver coin tightly in her fingers.


	9. Swinging From The Rigging

**Disclaimer**: Pirates are for life, not just for Christmas.

* * *

When the dawn comes, Squirrel wakes up, stiff all over from sleeping on the hard wooden floor. If she is disappointed to discover she is still in Tortuga, she doesn't let it show. She sighs, then climbs up to the crow's-nest and snacks on the bread and cheese that was left in her cabin. The morning fog climbs into the bay on cat's paws, cloaking most of the town in white. Some people, brave, stupid or both, continue to fight in the street. Most, however, have fallen asleep where they fell, weapons, food, drink and other items still in their hands. 

"Just like Jack." Squirrel mutters. She is slightly pleased to notice she no longer stutters.

_But why should you show everyone you can speak normally?_ A voice inside her whispers. _Why not keep this a secret, and tell that black woman that you were only faking to get her to leave you alone. It's revenge, really._ To Squirrel, who, in the course of her entire life, had never even considered the concept, revenge seemed like a pretty new idea. And one Squirrel finds she enjoys.

A noise on the docks below wakes Squirrel from her plotting.

"I told you!" The voice of Sharky stammers. "She was taken by these pirates. I would be surprised if their ship's … still… here." Squirrel looks cautiously over the edge of the crow's-nest. Sharky is staring at the Black Pearl, as if he can't imagine why the ship would still be there. Standing beside him, cracking his knuckles threateningly, is Squirrel's uncle. Sharky's face is bruised, and his arm looks like it is broken, but Squirrel still feels betrayed.

_He got too drunk last night. He should've just stayed away from the rum_.

"Ahoy, Black Pearl!" Her uncle shouts loud enough to wake the dead. "I would speak with the captain!" Squirrel smiles wryly.

_That may not be a good idea._ Then her stomach drops. _But what if Jack talks, just like Sharky?_

No-one on the ship below Squirrel moves. Her uncle shouts again, louder. The crews of the other ships are waking, groaning and grumbling, but they watch the drama unfold in the early hours.

Finally, Mister Gibbs appears, adjusting his vest. "Good mornin' good sir. Welcome to the Black Pearl. Can I help you?" Squirrel stifles a giggle as she watches her uncle go white with rage.

"Are you the captain?" Her uncle doesn't even know Jack Sparrow? This is priceless.

Gibbs shakes his head. "Sorry, mate. Our captain's… indisposed right now." Squirrel snickers, then blushes. "However," Gibbs continues, "I'm sure we can talk like gentlemen, even if you are an unannounced guest." Other crew members of the Pearl are appearing now. Sharky slides out of the way and disappears. Squirrel's uncle doesn't notice.

"Fine then." He booms, spreading his feet. "There're two things I have problems with. Firstly, according to a very valuable source of information…" The man looks around for Sharky, and cannot find him. With a scowl, he continues. "… Has told my that my dear niece has been kidnapped and brought aboard this very vessel."

Gibbs looks shocked. "You don't say." Squirrel feels the blood drain from her face.

"Secondly." Squirrel's uncle makes a signal, and a gang of men wielding blunt objects and pointed sticks comes out of the fog. "Secondly, your captain owes us a great deal of money for the theft of said niece. And more besides."

_Said niece?_ Squirrel thinks through her panic. _Someone else wrote him this speech._

Gibbs shrugs apologetically. "Can't help you there, mate. Everyone knows it's bad luck to have a woman on board. Besides, if there is one here, wouldn't we know about it?"

"Pieces of eight." The parrot appears beside Squirrel again. Squirrel ducks out of sight as everyone below decks looks up at the sudden noise.

"No, no, shoo!" Squirrel whispers, waving a hand at the bird.

"PIECES OF EIGHT!" The bird screeches. Squirrel fumbles in her belt-pouch and pulls out a nut. She gives it to the bird, which caws happily and starts eating it.

"What was that?" Squirrel's uncle booms.

"That would be Mister Cotton's parrot." Gibbs says. Squirrel sighs slowly. "Mister Cotton?" Gibbs asks. "Could you go fetch your bird? Thankee kindly." A few moments later, a grizzled face appears over the top of the crow's-nest. The man, seeing Squirrel's frantic expression, taps the side of his nose with a grin. The parrot clambers onto his owner's arm, still crunching away at the nut, and Mister Cotton disappears again. Squirrel decides she cannot risk being seen by her uncle, so she sits at the bottom of the crow's-nest and listens to the conversation.

"Don't play coy with me, mate!" Squirrel's uncle roars. "I know she's here. Bring out my niece or suffer the consequences."

"And what consequences would they be?" Mister Gibbs asks patronisingly.

"Goog MORNIN' eveeb'dy!" Comes a third voice, lurching across the deck. Squirrel feels her heart beat faster again, and at the same time her stomach lurches. _Why is it I always suffer two different types of panic whenever Jack's involved?_ She wonders.

"Are you the captain of this vessel?"

"Mebbe I am!" Jack's voice wobbles around the deck below. "An' mebbe I ain't!"

"ANSWER MY QUESTION!" Squirrel winces at the anger in her uncle's voice.

Jack pauses for a moment. "Look, mate, I'd love to stay and chat with you, but, unfortunately, I have a very, VERY bad hangover. So if you and your friends could just… shove off, that would be great."

There is a very drawn-out silence. The pirates and sailors watching wait with baited breath. In the silence, the ship's timbers creaking seem to get louder.

As well as the sound of someone loading a pistol.

Squirrel risks a look over the edge of the crow's-nest, searching with her sharp eyes. Not Jack, not her uncle, not any of the hooligans with him, not any crew member of the Pearl. Who, then, had the gun?

Dawn.

A sneer on her face, she holds the gun steady, standing on the roof of one of the nearby taverns. Squirrel's eyes fly wide. She is going to shoot Jack.

Without thinking, Squirrel leaps from the crow's-nest, coat flapping behind her as she swings down the rigging. Using her momentum, Squirrel swings right off the ship, straight at Dawn. Dawn's eyes widen, and she quickly raises the gun so it is aiming at Squirrel. A shot rings out, making everyone on the Pearl and the docks turn.

Squirrel screams, not in agony or fear, but in raw anger. She lets go of the rope, falling towards her cousin, feet first. Her soft-soled leather boots collide with Dawn's chest, knocking the girl to the ground. The pistol drops, spinning, and as soon as she lands, Squirrel runs to get it. Dawn, slightly winded, rolls to her feet, pulling a second gun from a belt on her waist.

"No-one makes a fool out of me!" She screeches. Squirrel stops as she feels Dawn's second gun against her head. Dawn's first gun was just in reach, but even if Squirrel manages to grab it, she'd already be dead.

_Chance of survival?_ Squirrel makes a mental note. _15 per cent_. She lashes out with her feet, knocking Dawn to the ground and grabbing the first gun at the same time.

"Except maybe me and Captain Jack Sparrow!" Squirrel smiles pleasantly. Dawn stares at the gun in her face, then up at Squirrel.

"You… You didn't stammer!" She says, shocked stupid, unable to think of anything else to say. Squirrel smiles again, tightening her grip on the trigger.

But something stays her hand.

_This is Dawn!_ A voice screeches in Squirrel's head. _She's the bitch that's tormented you, beaten you, and almost killed you! You still have the burns, right? This is your chance to pay her back!_

_No,_ Squirrel thinks, _I can't do it. Sure, she's a bitch, but do I have any right to kill her?_

_Revenge! You were nearly killed so many times; she might as well be dead… for revenge!_

Squirrel stares at her cousin. Dawn sees the hesitation under Squirrel's hood, and grins.

"You always were such a weakling." She laughs, pulling her gun out from behind her. Squirrel raises her own pistol quickly, but not fast enough.

A shot rings out, clear as a bell. The crew of the Pearl, who had raced for their weapons as soon as the fight had started, now stand in shocked silence. Dawn's father stands, his jaw open, halfway between screaming in rage and screaming in grief. He'd either lose a daughter, or a way to make a lot of money. And right now, money is more important to him.

Dawn stands up, grinning. Squirrel's hands fall limp to her side - the pistol still clutched in her hands, however - and her breaths become shaky and loud. Dawn walks around her cousin, cat-like even now.

"Thought you were better than me?" She laughs. "Thought you could get me back, did you? Well, now look at you. You're still weak. You were never better than me, and now you never wi--"

Squirrel turns, barrelling straight into Dawn. Dawn screeches in surprise, dropping her gun. Squirrel keeps running, until she reaches the edge of the balcony. Dawn falls backwards, and Squirrel, unable to stop in time, follows after her. Into the ocean.

Pirates and sailors alike rush as close as they can, watching as the foaming splash fades, waiting for the two girls to surface. They wait. And wait. And wait.

"Bloody women!" Jack throws off his coat, dropping his gun, hat and sword to the deck. With a dive, he goes under the water. A moment later, Squirrel's uncle does the same, but does not dive nearly as gracefully. The crew of the Black Pearl and the hired men watch, waiting for their respective leaders to surface.

Jack comes up first, the limp cloaked figure of Squirrel across his shoulders. The crew of the Pearl throw a rope over the edge of the ship, and, while Jack holds onto one end, the crew pull him back onto the ship. Jack lowers Squirrel onto the deck, and the crew crowd around. Carefully, Squirrel's sopping cloak is peeled off of her. Jack tilts her on her side and whacks her between the shoulder blades. Squirrel starts coughing up water and gasping, eyes wide. There isn't a mark on her. There is no bleeding bullet-hole. Gibbs, who has the cloak in his hands, holds it up. There is no hole in it.

Squirrel's silver coin amulet slides out from under her clothes. The shot is lodged right in the middle of it.

"Well, that's interesting." Jack says, reaching for the coin. Squirrel's hand slaps him away. She struggles to her feet, coughing weakly.

"Wh-wh-where's D-Dawn?" She gasps. Jack rolls his eyes. Everyone turns to look.

Dawn is climbing out of the water, dress and hair plastered to her body, her makeup running like tears down her face. She snarls at the Pearl, waving a fist as she hauls herself over the docks. There's a shout from the water.

"M-my uncle!" Squirrel swallows, shaking the water from her hair. She and the crew struggle over to the side of the ship and look down. Squirrel's uncle is struggling in the water close to the ship.

"Pull up anchor!" Jack shouts, hangover forgotten. "We've been in this stink-hole far too long!" The crew rushes to obey. Jack smiles his most charming smile at Squirrel, but it is wasted.

She's disappeared.

Jack looks around for the girl. She suddenly appears again, a length of rope in her hands. Squirrel throws it down to her uncle. The beefy man grasps hold of it and starts heaving himself out of the water. Squirrel braces herself at the side to stop herself from being pulled in again.

"You are in so much trouble, Rodent!" Squirrel's uncle snarls at his niece, bulldog-like jowls flapping.

"R-r-really?" Squirrel smiles. "I th-thought I w-was the one h-h-holding the r-rope!" The man's eyes widen as Squirrel releases it. He falls back into the ocean with a splash, having let go of the rope before Squirrel did. She grins, slowly pulling the uncle-less rope back on board. Squirrel's uncle splashes around, screaming curses and obscenities as the Black Pearl moves away from the docks and sails out into the bay.

"That was very nicely done." Jack swaggers over, putting an arm around Squirrel's shoulders. "Congrats on that very brave move, luv."

"Wh-why are y-you saving m-me?" Squirrel keeps looking out at the sea, hoping Jack will not see her red face. "Wh-what's s-s-so import-important ab-about me?"

Jack shrugs, the smile still plastered on his dripping face. "The same reason you decided to come, methinks." When Squirrel looks at the pirate captain, confused, Jack grins back, then lets go of the girl's shoulders.

"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, luv. I don't need a reason, savvy?" He swaggers back across the deck to pick up his belongings. Squirrel grins, trying to smother a giggle. She looks back out at the horizon, watching her hated home fade into a tiny dot.

"Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho." She smiles.

**

* * *

A/N:** I'm pretty sure I can hear the collective "Well, it's about TIME!" lol. 


	10. Character

**Disclaimer**: POTC is not mine. It belongs, strangely enough, to Disney

* * *

Ana comes down into Squirrel's cabin, a tray of food in her hands. Squirrel looks up from where she's sitting on the floor, quickly hiding something in her cloak. 

"Don't mind me." Ana says. "I don't want your lucky charm."

Squirrel frowns slightly, bringing the silver coin back into the open. "It's not lucky." She says. "I don't have any luck of my own." Ana raises an eyebrow, then comes and sits down next to Squirrel, holding her hand out. Squirrel reluctantly hands the amulet to the Negro woman.

"Well, I'd say you do. This would've killed you otherwise." Anamaria says, examining the coin, rubbing her fingers over the bullet still lodged in it. "And well done for giving that bitch what for."

Squirrel accepts the coin when it is handed back to her. "Dawn's always picked on me. She was the one who gave me the burns." Squirrel's hand flies up to her shoulder. The burns are practically healed now, probably due to a combination of the burn salves and her salt-water dip. Only slightly browned skin shows that there had ever been a wound there in the first place.

Ana's eyes widen. "Why the hell didn't you shoot the bitch then?"

Squirrel shrugs. "I guess I'm not that kind of person."

"Even for revenge?" Ana asks, incredulous.

Squirrel pauses before replying. "I was going to shoot her. When I fell into the water, I still had the gun in my hand." Squirrel's hand twitches, as if reliving the memory. "I held it to her head as we were both sinking. I could've shot her…" She buries her head in her hands. "But I didn't. And I have no idea why."

Anamaria puts a comforting hand around Squirrel's shoulders, and, feeling the girl flinch, says, "It can't be helped, Squirrel girl. What's past is past. And I guess you've proven yourself to be a lot stronger than that Dawn bitch was." Squirrel looks up, confused. Ana explains. "You had the guts to try and take her down by yourself. I saw her. She was going to shoot the Captain. And you saved him."

Squirrel pinks, not realising anyone else had seen the reason she had attacked Dawn.

"Dawn, on the other hand," the Negro woman stands, walking over to the window, "Was going to shoot you, no qualms about it. You were in the way." Anamaria shrugs, turning around. "You showed courage under pressure, character and…" Anamaria laughs at Squirrel's red face. "The fact that you're not good with compliments!"

Squirrel mutters something under her breath, but smiles shyly.

**

* * *

A/N:** Sorry about the shortness of this chapter, but there needed to be a girl-talk somewhere. You'll find out why in the next chapter. 


	11. Betrayed

**Disclaimer**: see first chapter. And the occasional drabble in every other chapter.

* * *

The next day passes almost uneventfully for Squirrel. Almost. 

After politely turning down an invitation to have breakfast with the crew, Squirrel climbs the rigging and sits in the crow's-nest again, watching the sea and listening to the waves break against the side of the ship. The sun is shining, and all is calm. Squirrel eats her breakfast quietly, eyes closed in bliss.

She's finally free. Everything is finally going her way.

"What are we going to do about that girl?"

"We'll deal with her once we get out of Port Royal, aye? Nothing to worry about, Anamaria. Just keep making Squirrel feel like she's at home."

Squirrel nearly chokes on her bread.

"Listen, Jack." Ana's voice is stern. "I don't know about you, but I think Squirrel's a nice girl." Jack snorts, and there is the sound of someone being slapped. "Listen, Captain! Squirrel doesn't deserve to be lied to like this."

"We ain't lyin' to her!" Jack grins. "We're just… neglecting some of the… finer… details."

Squirrel swallows food that suddenly has no taste.

Ana shakes her head, trying instead to concentrate on steering the Pearl. "She's a lot smarter than you think her, Jack Sparrow. She saved your life, and this is how you repay her?"

"Hey!" Jack holds up his hands, as if fending off an attack. "I did return the favour. I fished her out of the sea. You know she can't even swim, right?"

Squirrel feels a hot flush rise in her face, not of embarrassment, but out of anger. _How dare he!_

The conversation ends. Squirrel watches as Jack swaggers across the deck, looking out at the sea with a grin on his face. _I was wrong_, Squirrel thinks bitterly. _He's not any different to any other pirate in Tortuga. You've seen one, you've seen 'em all_. _And to think I was_… Squirrel swallows, then finally admits to herself, _To think I was in love with him._ When Jack's back is turned, Squirrel climbs slowly down the rigging and creeps back into her cabin.

While the ship sways from side-to-side in the current, Squirrel sits and sorts through her papers, organising them, busying her hands and mind so her eyes won't overflow with tears.

_Betrayed again. What a surprise. _The voice sneers. _I mean, look at you. You're so gullible. You're so easily fooled by people and their false concern._

_Shut up._

_Make me. You know it's the truth. Jack doesn't see you more than anything he can use. Not like _that_, and you know it. He doesn't want anything from you._

Except my skill.

The thought comes so rapidly to Squirrel it's almost like a physical blow. She rocks back on her heels, staring at the ceiling. First a tavern owner, now a pirate. Squirrel casts her mind back to when she 'helped' Mister Gibbs win that huge bag of gold from that short sailor. Is that what Jack wants her to do? Steal other people's gold in games of chance?

"He's in for a rude awakening." Squirrel mutters, angry now. She stuffs the rest of the papers back into the chest. "If I can't read him, then I can't help him." The grin comes viciously to her face.

_Is that really how you'd use your gift? _A voice asks gently. _Revenge?_

Squirrel hits herself on the head, wincing. What was this, a war between her shoulder-angel and shoulder-devil? With a sigh, Squirrel realises she wouldn't be able to betray Jack. _I am too gullible._ She thinks, closing the chest. _But it's too late now. And if I let Jack know that I heard him, who knows what will happen?_

Squirrel sits up as she remembers something. "Port Royal?"


	12. Port Royal

**Disclaimer**: If only I could sue Disney/Bruckheimer and get rights to Captain Jack Sparrow…

* * *

Squirrel feels safer under her now-dry cloak, her face hidden by the hood. She sees Anamaria smile at her warmly, and averts her eyes. 

"Wh-why are we h-here?" Squirrel asks Mister Gibbs as he walks past.

Mister Gibbs smiles just like Anamaria did. All friendly and chummy. "Well, the captain's visiting a friend 'o his here. Will Turner." Squirrel doesn't recognise the name. "Problem is, Miss Squirrel, we don't exactly have rights to be here, us being pirates and all, so a few of us have to sneak ashore and speak to Will's…" Gibbs winks at Squirrel, "Wife-to-be." A few crew members chuckle. Squirrel scowls in the shadow of her cloak. Another joke she'll never get.

"Alright!" Jack swaggers onto the deck, and Squirrel resists the urge to about-face and stare at him. "We need a few willing volunteers to come ashore with me and have a chat to young Will and Elizabeth. Anyone?"

Squirrel pretends to be interested in the town as they sail closer. And then, suddenly, she doesn't need to pretend.

It's just like Tortuga, only… better. The streets are organised, there are no fights, soldiers oversee the traders, making sure no-one is cheated, and Squirrel swears she can hear cheery singing and music coming over the water. If Tortuga was hell, the hole where Squirrel spent her youth trying to survive, then Squirrel wanted to spend the rest of her life in this little haven, forgetting everything that had ever happened to her.

It was as if she felt she'd finally come home.

Squirrel feels a hand on her shoulder, and looks up into Jack Sparrow's cocky-grinning face. "I'm guessing you'd want to explore this place, aye?" Squirrel bites back a curse, and turns back to watch the British flags flying over the well-fortified walls.

She can sense Jack looking over his shoulder, confused. "I'll take that as a yes." He whispers, close to her ear. Squirrel feels a shiver run up and down her spine. _Stop that_. She scolds silently, trying to stop herself from blushing. She fiddles with the coin around her neck, feeling the rough edges of the bullet.

"Alright then!" Jack grins. "To the boats, and to Port Royal!" Squirrel turns and reluctantly follows Gibbs and Mister Cotton. Mister Cotton's parrot tilts its head at her.

"Here be monsters." The bird mumbles with a squawk. Mister Gibbs looks up, first at the bird, then at Squirrel, from where he is untying a lifeboat. He sees Squirrel's vague nod, and frowns slightly, but busies himself with untying the lifeboat.

Squirrel steadies herself with one hand as she jumps into the lowering boat, then scrambles to the far end as Jack climbs in. She hunches deeper in her cloak, and ignores Jack when he smiles at her.

_If I can get away from Jack and hide somewhere in Port Royal_, Squirrel thinks, watching Jack carefully from under her hood, _I'll be a lot better off._

Gibbs sits down beside Squirrel, smiling warmly. "You'll love Port Royal." He says. Squirrel tries not to squirm away. "It's a beautiful place."

"I b-bet." Squirrel says shortly. Gibbs frowns slightly, and he and Jack exchange glances. Jack shrugs.

With everyone with an oar each, Jack taking two since Squirrel can barely even lift one, the rowboat makes quick progress towards the docks of Port Royal. Squirrel looks around, trying to pretend she isn't fascinated by this strange new world.

Finally, the boat comes close to the docks, and Jack clambers out. "Mister Cotton?" He turns back, grinning down at the three in the boat. "Take care of the boat. We may need to make a hasty retreat."

"Wind in the sails." Mister Cotton's parrot squawks.

Jack holds down a hand to Squirrel. After a moment's hesitation, Squirrel takes it, and allows herself to be hoisted into the docks of Port Royal. Mister Gibbs climbs up after her.

"Right." Jack says, waving and bobbing his head as he swaggers down the docks, attracting stares from every trader, sailor and navy officer, "First thing we gotta do is have a chat with young Will. Gibbs?" Gibbs comes to Jack's side, leaving Squirrel behind the two pirates. _Go now!_ A voice screams. Squirrel tenses herself as Jack and Gibbs talk quickly, waiting for the chance to hide behind a pile of crates or to leap up into a ship's rigging.

"Meanwhile." Jack says, stepping back suddenly and draping an arm around Squirrel's shoulder. "Me and the young Miss will pay a visit to young Bootstrap." Gibbs nods, and disappears down an alley. Jack leads her into the town square.

Squirrel looks up, hood falling away as she cranes her head to look as high as she can. This town looks even more beautiful and peaceful close up.

"Welcome to Port Royal, luv." Jack says. Squirrel realises Jack still has not let go of her shoulders. With a sigh, Squirrel allows herself to be steered through the town, pausing only to readjust her hood so it hides her blushing face.

There isn't much time to wander around and see the sights, though. As Jack and Squirrel round a corner, a platoon of guards comes into view. They recognise the pirate immediately, raise their bayonets, and charge.

"Time to go, luv!" Jack turns Squirrel around, and this time it's Squirrel who is struggling to keep up with Jack.

"Stop them!"

"Don't let them get away!"

"Get the pirates!"

"S-since when d-d-did I be-become involved w-w-with pirates!" Squirrel angrily asks Jack as they hide in an alley to catch their breath. Jack shrugs and grins his trademark charming smile.

"Since you set foot on a pirate ship?" The redcoats come into view, and the pirate and the grey-cloaked girl start running again.

Another platoon approaches from the other side of the street.

"Now what?" Squirrel gasps. Jack looks around quickly.

"In here." He whips open a door and pushes Squirrel inside, then slips inside behind her.

Squirrel gives her eyes a few minutes to adjust. The room is pretty dark, but there is a fire in one corner, and the room is filled with swords and blacksmith's tools. An old donkey, tied to some sort of mechanical wheel, brays in alarm as he sees Jack, and starts walking around in circles, setting the wheel creaking and turning. Jack grins, gold teeth sparkling.

"What a piece of luck this is! Will's workshop!" There's noise outside. Squirrel leaps up into the rafters, where she feels most comfortable, while Jack looks through a gap in the door, watching the guards outside.

"Having trouble with the law again, Captain?" a voice from the shadows asks. Jack whirls around, drawing his sword. Squirrel shrinks into a corner, letting her cloak camouflage her, as it did in the tavern in Tortuga.

"Well, well, well!" Jack grins at the figure, sheathing his sword. "If it ain't young Bootstrap!" Squirrel looks at the 'young Bootstrap' critically. He's kinda cute, in a young-girl's-fantasy kind of way, but other than that, the brown-haired blacksmith is no-one special.

"You really shouldn't make this a habit, Jack." Will Turner grins, shaking Jack's hand. "The last time you came here running from guards I ended up fighting you."

"And losing." Jack reminded the young man with a bob of the head and a wave of a hand. Will frowns.

"You cheated, though."

Jack shrugs. "Pirate."

"So what are you here for this time?" Will asks, stoking the fire in the corner. "And what happened to the Pearl?"

"The Pearl's in the harbour, safely out of sight. Me, I'm here for a very special reason." Squirrel couldn't help but be mesmerised by Jack's constant swaying and jerking hand movements. She shook herself. Being up in these rafters was making her remember the feelings she had for Jack back in Tortuga.

And there was no reason for her to remember… them… _STOP THINKING LIKE THAT!_

"Special reason?" Will Turner says. "And this has nothing to do with the fact that half the city's guards are looking for you, would it?"

Jack holds both hands to his heart. "Your sarcasm wounds me, Will. No, I'm here coz we're a little short on supplies. And being pirates, we can't exactly dock and barter fairly without being attacked by Her Majesty's redcoats, savvy?"

"And you want my help in getting permission for you to dock. Is that it?"

Jack grins. "Actually, I was hoping that your dear love Elizabeth could do that for me." Will's face changes emotions several times, finally setting on surprise.

"I'll speak to her… But why don't you just go to Tortuga?"

Squirrel tenses in the rafters, and underneath her, a plank creaks. Will frowns, looking up, but Jack's extravagant hand movements distract him.

"We… ah, we can't exactly go back there in a hurry." Jack says, dancing on one spot. "See, we picked up a new crew member recently, and if we do go back to Tortuga… well, let's just say that we're as good as dead. Savvy?"

Squirrel grins, glad that Jack is a quick thinker, but then she frowns. _Does he mean that? Does he really not intend to let me go?_

"So you want to rob Port Royal instead?" Will raises an eyebrow. Jack frowns and shakes his head.

_But is there anywhere else I can go? _Squirrel thinks, lost in thought. _Could I really stay here in Port Royal? Or would I be better off on the Black Pearl? With Jack?_ She blushes furiously at her last thought.

"Commodore Norrington changed his mind about you, Jack." Will says with a smile. "That was why the guards chased after you as soon as they saw you."

Jack stares at the blacksmith, horrified. "You saw me? Why the hell didn't you come to my rescue then?"

Will shrugs. "I wanted to see who the girl was that you were running with." Will pauses, looking around the room. "Where is she, by the way?"

Squirrel hunches further down in her cloak. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, she becomes aware of her amulet. The silver coin still feels cold against her skin, but the bullet lodged in it feels hot.

"Dunno." Jack says, looking around him, genuinely confused. "She was 'ere jus' a second ago."

Squirrel slowly lifts the coin out of her clothing and looks at it carefully, rubbing her fingers around the scalloped edges. A silver coin shouldn't've stopped a bullet like that. It was impossible. Silver was far too soft. It was almost is if there was…

_Click._

A secret compartment.

A small piece of paper covered in red wax slides out of the coin and onto Squirrel's lap. _Now why haven't I ever noticed that before?_ She wonders in surprise. Maybe it was because she kept it under the planks in her room, scared to wear it in case Dawn or the Uncle found it. It was from her father, a last present before he was murdered. That made it sacred to Squirrel.

Squirrel picks up the tiny piece of paper. It is small, tightly folded to fit between the coin, and slightly damp. Squirrel smiles. From her brief swim with Dawn, no doubt. The paper slips in Squirrel's grip, and falls down out of the rafters. Squirrel makes a grab for it.

Will stares, and Jack turns around. Squirrel grins sheepishly, hanging upside-down from the rafters from her ankles just behind him. Jack raises an eyebrow.

"H-h-h-hello." She stammers. "S-sorry." Squirrel tucks the tiny slip of paper between her fingers as she lets herself fall out of the rafters. The grey-cloaked girl curses her innate ability to blush upon the slightest provocation as she adjusts her cloak. The paper is secreted away.

"Ah." Said Jack, putting an arm around Squirrel's shoulders. "This is Squirrel. The newest crew member of the Pearl. Squirrel? Will. Will? Squirrel." Squirrel nods and smiles. Will holds out a hand for her to shake. She takes it gingerly, still blushing from her unintended appearance from the rafters.

"What were you doing up there?" Will asks.

Squirrel shrugs. "J-just hang-hanging a-around?" Jack laughs at Squirrel's feeble attempt at a joke.

"Ok, now that we've all been introduced, I think it's time we talked about the bartering side of things." Jack releases Squirrel. "Head back to the Pearl, luv. And keep an eye out for them guards, savvy?"

Squirrel can't get out of there fast enough.

"Nervous little thing, isn't she?" Will comments dryly. Jack nods, a strange smile on his face.

"Yes she is, Will. Yes she is."

**

* * *

A/N:** Nerwen and Tinuviel punched me repeatedly for the 'young girl's fantasy' line. But it had to be done. 


	13. Unlikely Friend

**Disclaimer**: -bows- Thankyou, thankyou… But it's not mine. Squirrel is, but POTC is not.

* * *

Squirrel sits on the roof of the blacksmiths, gnawing through a handful of nuts. _I'm such an idiot! Nearly killing myself for a stupid piece of paper…_

_(("Take it," He smiles at her, placing the coin in her open palm. "It's very special."_

"_How s-special?" A young Squirrel stares up at her father in adoration._

"_Very, very special." The man laughs. "It's a lucky charm."_

_The young girl turns the coin over in her fingers. "It's just a c-coin. How is it lucky?"_

_Squirrel's father pats her on the head, ruffling her hair. "Whenever you're in trouble, little squirrel, it will save you. And if you ever want to go on an adventure, it will guide you to one."_

"_I don't ever want to go on an ad-ad-adbenture." The young girl says with the authority of someone who already knows their place in the world at a very young age. "I want to stay with you and Mother f-f-f-forever!"_

_Squirrel's father laughs…))_

Squirrel chews thoughtfully, then reaches into her cloak and pulls out the slip of paper. Breaking the damp wax seal, Squirrel unfolds it carefully.

The first thing that stands out at Squirrel is the giant 'X'. The second thing is the fact that the whole paper is…

"A m-map!" Squirrel nearly chokes on a mouthful of nut. While catching her breath, Squirrel looks over the edge of the roof. Jack is peering cautiously out of the door, and Will follows him. The two men exchange brief words in the street, Jack still watching for the guards, head and hands jerking around.

"…Elizabeth won't like this." Will is saying. "She doesn't want me going off on any adventures anymore…"

"Who said you would be?" Jack asks, slightly annoyed.

"… or have anything else to do with you." Will finishes with a weary smile. "The wedding's a few weeks away, and she doesn't want me hurt."

Jack rolls his eyes and mutters something. Squirrel takes off, creeping along and jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Somewhere in the pit of her stomach, Squirrel feels guilty. Jack saved her from Tortuga. But he's also betrayed her. He only saved her for her skill. Squirrel refuses, however, to compare him to her uncle, even if the two men are remarkably similar in the reason they keep Squirrel around…

But what if both her uncle and Jack knew about the map?

Squirrel nearly trips at that thought. She stops to catch her breath, looking around the town, trying not to think about the map. A carriage is passing in the streets below. _If I could walk behind that carriage for a way,_ Squirrel thinks, shimmying down a drain pipe, _I might be able to stay unnoticed for a while…_

Unfortunately, as Squirrel tries to blend in behind the carriage, the occupant leans out and looks her dead in the eye. Squirrel freezes.

"Stop the carriage!" The woman shouts. The horses rein up. Squirrel bites her lip, thinking frantically. The door opens, and just as Squirrel turns to dash away, the woman inside the carriage calls out to her.

"Wait! Girl, hold up a minute!"

_What did I do this time?_ Squirrel thinks, as she reluctantly makes her way back towards the carriage.

The woman steps out, her hair set above her head, and her dress white with lots of lace and frills. Squirrel can't help but stare. The woman is, putting it gently, very beautiful, and Squirrel feels like an ugly duckling standing in front of her.

"You're the girl who was with Jack Sparrow, aren't you?" The woman asks, curious. Squirrel nods, scuffing her feet in the dirt.

"Where is he now?" The woman asks. Squirrel indicates with a vague hand that he's somewhere behind her. A platoon of guards rounds the corner, and Squirrel's eyes widen. They haven't seen her yet, but if they keep coming…

"Quick!" The woman grabs Squirrel by the arm and pushes her towards the carriage, "Get in. We need to talk."

Squirrel climbs in, glad for a moment of safety. The woman climbs in after her, and the carriage picks up speed as it rolls through Port Royal.

"My name's Elizabeth." The woman smiles. "Soon to be Elizabeth Turner."

Squirrel gapes. "Y-you're the w-w-woman who's m-marrying W-Will?"

Elizabeth smiles and nods. "You must've already met Will." She frowns. "Jack's not asking him to go off on one of his 'adventures', is he? I made Will promise me that he would never have anything to do with that ruffian…" She sighs, fanning herself with a decorated fan. "At least, until after the wedding. You know what boys are like."

Squirrel finds herself feeling more and more out of place. The inside of the carriage is ornate, silks and velvet cushion and drapes, gold inlays… And then Elizabeth's dress and jewellery… Squirrel shrinks into her cloak.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Elizabeth says in her prime English accent. "I never got your name."

"S-Squirrel."

Elizabeth tilts her head sideways, as if trying so see Squirrel's face under the grey hood. "Why were you running with Jack? He's not dragged you away from your family and forced you to work on the Black Pearl, has he?" Elizabeth continues like this for some time. Every time Squirrel opens her mouth to speak, she finds herself assaulted by Elizabeth's questions and speculations in an accent that only the very rich can afford. Finally, Squirrel manages to get a word in.

"I …"

"Oh, good." Elizabeth says, looking out the window. "We're here. Come inside, I'll have my maids get you a dress and organise a hot bath for you. You must be terrified! Or at least mildly in shock. I mean, this is Jack Sparrow we're talking about here."

_We're talking?_

"… And you simply must tell me a bit about yourself…"

_Haven't I been trying?_

"… But of course! It's nearly time for lunch. Are you hungry? I can…"

_Starving. Also, tired, blisters on my feet, burns on my arm and side, years of mental and physical scars from my life in Tortuga, and trapped on a ship where I can hardly trust anyone. Now, of course, I'm feeling like a fish out of water, being made to come into this fancy mansion and having people running around to get me clothes, food and hot water…But enough about me._

"Now," Squirrel and Elizabeth sit down at a wrought-iron table overlooking the bay, "Tell me a little about yourself, Miss Squirrel. Where do you come from? How do you know Jack?"

Squirrel picks at her food, uncomfortable under the rich woman's pleasant gaze. "Forgive m-me for s-saying this, E-Elizabeth, b-but I d-don't know if I should be…"

Elizabeth laughs, waving a hand. "Should be talking to me? No, it's perfectly alright. I'll just tell father you're a friend of mine. Besides," Elizabeth lowers her voice, conspiratorially, "Anyone who knows Jack somehow ends up being a friend of mine anyway." Elizabeth smiles, fanning herself. "You look like you need someone to talk to, anyway."

_I also need someone to listen to me,_ Squirrel thinks wryly, but for some reason Squirrel feels like telling this rich woman everything. About her life on Tortuga. About her skill. About her parents. About how Jack rescued her from Tortuga. About the fight with Dawn. About the bullet in the coin, a special gift from her father, and a 'lucky charm'. At least, she would, if she ever gets the chance.

Elizabeth instead tells Squirrel about how she met Jack, and the legend surrounding the Black Pearl. As the story progresses, Squirrel finds herself listening more and more intently, hanging on every one of Elizabeth's words. The attack on Port Royal. The pirates that were neither dead nor alive. The cave and the treasure. The rescue by Will. The fight between the Black Pearl and the Interceptor. The battle with the moonlight-dead pirates and the navy. Squirrel has to laugh when Elizabeth tells her about the rum incident.

"He was really frightfully upset." Elizabeth says, sipping her tea daintily. "But I suppose rum is to pirates as air is to the rest of us." Squirrel chuckles, trying to imitate the way Elizabeth drank her tea.

"Oh! But how rude of me!" Elizabeth suddenly realises something. "You were going to tell me about yourself! Do, I apologise, I had no idea I was talking so much! It's just that it's hardly ever that I find someone whose willing to hear about what happened to me."

"Let me g-guess." Squirrel says, holding up a hand before the rich woman could continue. "They all th-think it m-must've b-been terrifying for y-you and they w-w-won't talk about it?"

Elizabeth nods, and opens her mouth, but Squirrel cuts her off. "You wanted to hear ab-about me?" She takes a deep breath. "Then p-p-please excuse the s-s-stammer. It c-comes and g-goes sometimes."

So finally, Squirrel was able to talk. And she talked, and Elizabeth listened. Squirrel tells the rich woman everything she wanted to tell. Squirrel was just reaching the part about Dawn shooting her when a maid appeared, telling Elizabeth that Squirrel's bath was ready.

"You go." Elizabeth says, smiling kindly. "I'll be waiting here for you, and you can finish your story then. Sounds fair?"

Squirrel nods, and allows herself to be led through the huge white mansion, staring in awe at everything she sees as she goes.

**

* * *

A/N**: Call me cynical, but this was my first impression of Elizabeth. "Blah, blah, blah"… Well, I know better now… but somehow my first POTC fiction set the trend. I apologise. 


	14. Blushing

**Disclaimer**: I admire the people who can make POTC but I dream of a day when I'll be able to write movie scripts.

* * *

Squirrel looks out the window at the late afternoon sun. With a tinge of guilt, she remembers the way Anamaria and Gibbs had treated her. Like a friend. Like one of them. They would be worried. Then she remembers Jack. Would he worry? Or would it be just another treasure that slipped out of his reach? 

Squirrel fiddles with the dress Elizabeth had let her borrow. It's white, set up with layer after layer of cloth underneath it to make the skirt look circular, and had lots of frills and lace. Squirrel feels like… well, anything but herself, really. The maids adjust the length of the dress, and then brush out Squirrel's tangled length of hair and style it like Elizabeth's. When Squirrel looks in the mirror, she barely recognises herself.

Elizabeth seems very pleased.

"I knew you'd look a lot better in something a little more dignified." She beams. "No offence, or anything." Squirrel mutters thanks, well aware that the white of the dress is making her face seem like it's on fire.

"You were saying about your cousin, Dawn…?" Elizabeth prompts. After that, Squirrel concentrates on the telling of her story in order not to let her face light up like a beacon.

She is so engrossed in the telling of her story she barely notices as the maid leads two figures onto the balcony, shrugging apologetically at Elizabeth.

"And that's where I am n-now." Squirrel finishes with a smile at the rich woman. Elizabeth, however, is looking over Squirrel's shoulder. With a sudden chill feeling, Squirrel hunches her shoulders and refuses to look around.

"Will! Jack!" Elizabeth says, a mixture of pleasure and annoyance on her face. "What are you doing here?"

"Jack wanted me to help him look for Squirrel. We haven't seen her since earlier this morning." Will says sheepishly, aware of his fiancée's accusatory glare. "You haven't seen her, have you?"

Sensing Elizabeth's glare shifting now to her, Squirrel slowly rises to her feet, then turns and faces Jack and Will, red as a tomato again. It takes several moments before either of the men realise.

"Squirrel?" Jack asks, incredulous, one eyebrow raised. "That you?"

Squirrel shrugs, embarrassed. Elizabeth beams.

"Surprise you? Well, I was pleasantly surprised myself." She comes over and stands next to Squirrel. "Miss Grey here was just telling me a little about herself."

Jack looks Squirrel up and down, an appraising look on his face. Will clears his throat.

"Um, Elizabeth?" He says, "May I have a word?" Elizabeth and Will disappear into the next room, leaving Squirrel and Jack alone on the balcony. If it is possible, Squirrel blushes even redder.

"So, this is what you do when I give you an order?" Jack grins, aware of the girl's discomfort. "You hobnob with the rich and famous of Port Royal and get yourself a makeover?"

Squirrel doesn't bother opening her mouth. She sits down, miserable, but tries not to show it. Jack sits down opposite her.

"Well," he says, leaning forward conspiratorially and completely changing the subject, "The good news is that we managed to get enough supplies without being noticed by too many guards. The better news," Squirrel's eyes follow every one of Jack's dramatic hand movements, simply out of habit, "The better news is that…" He pauses again, meeting Squirrel dead in the eye. And for some reason, she cannot look away.

"The better news is," Jack smiles, "Is that you can consider yourself a crew member of the Black Pearl, starting today. That is," Jack leans back in the chair, looking out over the horizon. "Only if you want to."

After a moment, Squirrel finds her voice. "W-when I w-was on T-Tortuga, I w-would've s-said 'yes' s-straight away."

"So why don'cha?" Jack asks, looking back at Squirrel, slightly confused.

She swallows. "B-b-because I don't know if I c-c-can t-trust you now."

Jack tilts his head several times, frowning slightly. "What do you mean?"

" 'We'll deal with her once we get out of Port Royal, aye?' " Squirrel imitates Jack's voice. " 'We ain't lyin' to her. We're just neglecting some of the… finer… details'." She looks at Jack, trying not to look accusing. Jack, however, breaks into a grin and leans forward again.

"So you _was_ listening!" He laughs. "I knew it." He flashes his gold-capped teeth at her. "Call it a test, luv. I had to know who exactly I was bringing aboard the Pearl. I had Anamaria spy on you as well. Sorry about that, but I just had to make sure who you were."

It is on the tip of Squirrel's tongue to ask if Jack told Anamaria to threaten Squirrel as well, but instead she asks, "So why d-did you s-save me f-from Tort-Tortuga? And d-don't tell m-me it's because you're 'Captain Jack Sparrow'."

Jack shrugs, and looks out over the bay. "Mebbe coz you looked so desperate to escape." He looks her dead in the eyes, his brown eyes serious. "You wanted freedom. And that's something no-one should be lackin'. Aye?"

Squirrel forgets whatever it is she is about to say. Finally, she stammers, "So y-you didn't s-save m-me for m-my g-g-gift?"

"Explain later, luv." Jack stands as Will and Elizabeth come back into the room. "But know that I saved your coz you needed to be saved. Savvy?"

Elizabeth, Will, and Jack have a hurried conversation, Elizabeth seemingly very agitated, Will apologetic, and Jack his usual unpredictable self, grinning and swaying. Squirrel mulls silently over the brief conversation she had with Jack, biting her lip. Suddenly, she seems to reach a decision, and rises to her feet.

"P-pardon me." Squirrel coughs. The conversation ends, and Elizabeth, Will and Jack turn to face her. Squirrel clears her throat and speaks again. "Elizabeth, th-thank you f-for every-everything. But I…" She coughs nervously again. "I think I'd b-b-better return this d-dress."

Elizabeth nods, smiling. "Of course." She and Squirrel go upstairs. Risking a backwards glance down at Jack, she sees him smiling at her. Just like he had in her dreams. Squirrel's heart thunders behind the white lace.

**

* * *

A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews. Cookies and rum for you all! 


	15. Another Boat

**Disclaimer**: POTC belongs to the guy that makes CSI! Wow!

* * *

As Squirrel slips back into her blouse and leggings, Elizabeth stands nearby, talking again. Squirrel smiles wryly as she listens to the rich woman, still slightly red from Jack's smile. 

"… And I must say, you certainly caught Jack off-guard. Shell-shocked, if I may say so! I don't suppose you've ever worn a dress in your life?"

"N-not like th-that one. Actually… n-n-o, n-never."

As Squirrel steps out from behind the screen, she sees Elizabeth's surprised face. "Well I never!" Elizabeth gasps. "You poor thing!"

Squirrel reaches for her grey cloak, where it lies draped across a chair. Elizabeth steps forward and places a hand on Squirrel's wrist.

"Do you have to wear the cloak?" Elizabeth asks, despairingly, like a mother telling a child not to play in the mud for the thousandth time. Squirrel nods, frowning slightly. Elizabeth sighs, and releases Squirrel's hand.

"You have a beautiful face, Miss Grey." Elizabeth says kindly. "You shouldn't hide it all the time."

Squirrel blushes as red as a rose as she fastens the cloak around her shoulders and drops the hood over her head.

Once she's back downstairs, Squirrel and Jack part company with Will and Elizabeth and head back to the Black Pearl. He keeps looking at her sideways as they walk through the town, as if trying to catch a glimpse of her face under her hood. Finally, he breaks the silence as they near the docks.

"You looked pretty nice in that dress, if I may be so bold."

Squirrel's heart threatens to rip a hole in her chest, given the way it's beating. "Th-thankyou."

"Permission to speak freely, Miss Grey?" He bows ironically, drawing the attention of a handful of guards. Squirrel nods frantically, and begins to walk a bit faster. Jack grins, putting an arm around her shoulder and whispering into her ear.

"You didn't look pretty nice." He says. Squirrel frowns at him, confused. Jack grins, then adds. "You looked drop-dead-bloody-gorgeous."

The guards pick up their weapons and charge down the docks. Jack turns to grin back at them, waving his arms as if to say 'Here I am. Catch me if you can!'. Squirrel leaps off the dock and into the waiting boat, and Jack leaps after her. With a grin, he takes up a pair of oars and rows away. The guards raise their bayonets and aim.

_Chance of survival?_ Squirrel thinks. _69 per cent._ She ducks down low as the first few bullets whiz past her head. She suddenly realises something, and looks around.

"Where's M-Mister C-Cotton? And Gibbs?" She manages to squeak over the gunshots. The shots themselves become more and more inaccurate as Jack rows further away from the docks. Jack grins at her, gold teeth shining.

"They already went back to the Pearl, luv, not to worry."

Realisation sinks in. "S-So this isn't your b-boat?"

"Nup!"

Squirrel turns back to look at the redcoats on the docks. Their shouted obscenities can still be heard, and Squirrel winces at some of the more familiar ones. Ones her uncle used…

Squirrel lets her thoughts drift. Elizabeth said that Squirrel had a beautiful face. But that couldn't be right. Dawn was the kind of person who could be called beautiful. She could afford the finer clothes, the jewellery, the makeup… She had lovers by the dozen. Surely she was the more beautiful…

But Elizabeth had said that Squirrel was beautiful. And that was without her wearing any makeup, only a borrowed dress, and no jewellery except for…

Her amulet.

Squirrel's hand flies up to her throat. She lets out a sigh of relief to find that it is still there.

Jack must've heard her, but not understood the reason for her relief. "Don't worry, Squirrel. Once we reach the Pearl, we'll be outta Port Royal quick as we can, savvy?" He pauses mid-stroke. "Did you think about what I asked you, didn't you?"

Squirrel looks at Jack, thinking, then remembers. Jack had asked her if she wanted to officially become one of the crew. Squirrel bites her lip, thinking for a moment. Jack watches her silently. Finally, Squirrel smiles at Jack from under her hood.

"Aye, aye, c-c-captain!"

**

* * *

A/N: **Hey, at least he didn't steal the boat underwater this time! … (hey, Elke thought it was funny…) 


	16. Girl Power

**Disclaimer**: POTC is not mine.

**A/N**: Just while we're at it, I would like to apologise to the Orli fans for the 'young girl's fantasy' and 'no-one special' lines… Sorry. Hey, I'm sixteen, but I think Johnny's more of a man than Orli will ever be… But that's just my opinion… I'll shutup now.

* * *

Squirrel is sitting on the floor of her cabin, surrounded by papers when Jack walks in. Squirrel looks up, and surreptitiously folds a paper between her fingers, hiding it in her cloak. Jack motions to the mess scattered around Squirrel. 

"Wha's all this?"

"M-my n-notes. I k-kept then t-to m-make…" Jack comes over and scoops a handful off the floor, "H-Help me r-r-remember m-my mistakes, and t-to show…" Squirrel coughs nervously and adds in a lower tone, "My s-skill."

"October 17th: Left-Hand Jon, full house - tick... Broken Nose: 6 4 3 5 6 2 4 1 - tick for each number?" Jack reads an excerpt from one of the papers. He frowns at Squirrel, confused. Squirrel bites her lip.

"I c-can r-read the f-flow of games, l-like d-dice or c-cards. I c-can r-read p-people."

Jack throws himself down on the floor next to Squirrel, rummaging through the papers, looking for something. He finally finds the one he's looking for.

"July 28th: Jack Sparrow." He looks up from the paper, a grin on his face. Squirrel hopes he can't read her secret code in the border. "Royal flush? X - Full House. Dice: 6? 3? 4? 2? 8? All crosses next to them… Silver dress? XXX Red d. and gold d. XXXX?" Jack looks up. "There seems to be a lot of crosses and question marks in this one. Can't you 'read' Captain Jack Sparrow?"

Squirrel blushes and shakes her head. Jack frowns again, tilting his head to one side.

"Why not?"

"I d-d-don't know. Y-you're…" Squirrel mulls over the word. "D-different."

"How?"

Squirrel thinks back, trying to remember. "You're un-unpredictable."

Jack waggles his eyebrows at her. "Unpredictable?"

Squirrel blushes bright red. "I m-mean, it's h-hard to t-tell what you're th-thinking…"

Jack smirks. "Yeah, awright. So we're a little hard to guess at. So… this is your skill? You can read the flow of chance, and know what people are thinking."

Squirrel nods. "M-my uncle used m-my skill to r-rig the d-dice and c-cards... and to kn-know who to d-d-de-deal with."

Jack looks at Squirrel, his face serious. She swallows. Finally, Jack asks, "So why didn't he 'deal' with me?"

"I…" Squirrel turns away and pretends to shuffle through some of her papers. "I… I n-never t-told h-him… about h-how I c-couldn't r-read y-you."

"Really?" Jack smiles. "That was nice of you."

Squirrel swallows her cowardice and looks Jack in the eye. "I w-was scared I w-would be b-beaten again." The cowardice rises up in her like a rotten meal, and Squirrel looks away again.

The pair sit in silence for a moment, where the only sound is the shuffling of papers. Jack hands the ones he holds back to Squirrel.

"So..." Jack says after a while, "That was one of the reasons you didn't believe me when I said I rescued you because I wanted to?"

Squirrel nods slowly. "I d-didn't know if I c-c-could be-believe you."

Jack puts a hand on Squirrel's cloaked shoulder and turns her to face him. Squirrel's hood falls away, revealing her frightened face and wide brown eyes. Jack's own eyes look deep into hers.

"Believe me, Miss Squirrel." Jack says. "You may not be able to predict me, but you can sure as hell trust me."

Squirrel opens her mouth and closes it several times, aware of the hot flush on her face. However, these are normal reactions around Jack, as far as she was concerned. It must've been something in her eyes that betrayed her. Jack raises an eyebrow, and leans closer.

"What are you hiding? What little secret are you hiding from Jack?"

"N-nothing!" Squirrel says, too fast for it to be nothing. Squirrel quietly tries to hide the map in her boot, but Jack's other hand whips out and grabs her by the wrist. Squirrel and Jack, equally unbalanced, fall. Squirrel gives a slight squeak, partly out of surprise, partly out of shock, and partly because Jack is now lying on top of her.

"'Scuse me, luv!" He grins, pulling the map from Squirrel's hand, "But pirates don't much like secrets. Savvy?" He opens the map over Squirrel's face, blocking her view of his face. Squirrel, red as a beetroot now, can imagine the surprised look on his face. The paper is lifted, and Jack is grinning.

"Enjoying yourself down there?" He teases. Squirrel pushes him off and scrabbles to her feet, heart thundering away. Jack grins again, and then looks closer at the map.

"Where did you get this?" He asks, focused entirely on the yellow piece of paper in front of him.

Squirrel frowns slightly, biting her lip. "My father gave it to me." A split-second later, she realises she never stuttered. Jack, however, seems not to notice. He's absorbed with the map. So absorbed, in fact, that he barely notices as Squirrel slips out of the room, and then bars it behind her with an oar. Anamaria stares at Squirrel strangely, and Squirrel grins back stupidly, still on a Jack-induced high.

"Where are we going?" She asks, climbing up to the helm.

Anamaria shrugs. "Just around."

Squirrel looks up at the Negro woman. "Thankyou, bitch."

Anamaria frowns down at Squirrel. "Excuse me?"

"Thanks for being a real friend to me, for making me learn that my stutter was just an act. But you are a real bitch for spying on me like that."

Ana shrugs, insult seemingly forgotten. "I was only following the Captain's orders. Speak of the devil…" Ana raised an eyebrow at Squirrel, smiling slightly, "Didn't you just lock him in your room?"

"He found the map." Squirrel shrugs, then freezes. Ana knew about the amulet, but not the map. The Negro woman's eyes light up in surprise, and Squirrel mentally curses herself for her stupidity.

"You had a map?"

Squirrel sighs. "Yes, it was hidden inside the amulet."

"So it was part of your father's gift."

Squirrel frowns slightly. "Yes. He said the amulet was lucky, and he said that if I ever wanted adventure, the amulet would show me one."

There is the sound of someone hammering away at wood with both fists.

"Well, Jack tells me you're one of us now," Ana grins, adjusting the course of the ship slightly. "So why not bring us along on the adventure?"

There is the slow steady pounding of someone throwing their shoulder against wood.

"I don't know." Squirrel says, looking out at the ocean. "If my father wanted me to go on some great adventure for treasure, shouldn't he have gone him-himself? If it is treasure at all."

The oar buckles slightly under the continuous blows at the door. Ana leaves the helm and walks with Squirrel towards the source of the noise.

"What do you mean?"

"If we had a chance for riches," Squirrel explains, "I think we would've taken it. We were a very poor family, me and my father."

"And your mother?" Anamaria asks gently. Squirrel doesn't reply. Ana bows her head. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault." Squirrel says, taking one end of the oar. "On three?"

Ana grins back. "On three." Inside, Jack goes back as far as he can go into the cabin, preparing to slam one last time into the door.

Both girls grin at each other, then lift the oar. "Three!"

Jack charges through the now open door, and does not stop until he hits the helm with an 'Oof!'. Squirrel and Ana giggle, then make themselves scarce.

**

* * *

A/N:** -grins- 


	17. Swab The Deck

**Disclaimer**: POTC is great.

* * *

"Near to scuppers? Shiver me timbers!" Mister Cotton's parrot waddles across the deck and looks at Squirrel with a beady black eye. Anamaria swipes at the blue-and-yellow bird, scowling. It flutters away, squawking indignantly. 

"How dare he!" Ana grizzles, kneeling alongside Squirrel. "How DARE he! This is slave-labour, this is! Completely sexist! Slavery! I didn't kill three men for my freedom for nothing! This is absolute injustice! I should make him eat this brush, make him choke on it…" Ana continues along the same vein for quite some time. Squirrel mutters along with her, though not as loudly.

Jack watches with a bemused expression from the helm. Squirrel tucks a stray strand of her hair behind her ear, pausing in her scrubbing of the decks. She glares back at the captain.

"As Cotton jus' said, you missed a spot!" Jack calls out. Anamaria throws the brush at him. Jack catches it one-handed and then throws it back at her.

Squirrel returns to the task at hand. Back and forth, the brush in her hands scrubs the deck, coating it in soapy water. Anamaria keeps muttering under her breath.

"Don' know why he's so pissed at us." Ana says. "We let him out, didn't we?"

"He did run into the rail pretty hard." Squirrel whispers back. She rolls one of her sleeves up higher on her arm.

"That's no excuse!"

Squirrel fights back a smile. "Below the belt."

Anamaria's mouth forms a perfect 'O', then splits into a grin. The two women continue to swab the decks.

"What are you going to do, Squirrel?" Ana asks after a while. "Jack's in a fine mood after you locked him in, and he's hidden the map. You won't get it back easily. Or ever."

Squirrel squints in the bright sun, wishing for her cloak, but it's back in her cabin. "I'll think of something."

"But the treasure!" Ana insists. "It's yours by right! A last gift from your father! You'll think of something? You'd better!"

Squirrel sits up, dunking her brush in the bucket of water. She sees Jack watching them. Looking around, the rest of the crew have become suddenly too absorbed with their own tasks to meet her eyes. Squirrel looks out at the horizon, into the sun setting right into her eyes. Slowly, a rare shy smile crosses her face briefly.

"I have."

Ana looks up briefly, expecting something involving bloodshed and a fight, and quite possibly, Jack choking on the scrubbing brush. But Squirrel just gets back to work, and cleans the deck in double-time. Afterwards, she returns to her cabin and sorts through her papers, organising them by date in the chest.

After re-organising her meagre possessions, she opens the bag that contains her candles. Ten of them in total. Outside, it's already dark, and most of the crew have gone below deck, either to eat or sleep. Squirrel leaves her cloak behind.

Jack watches suspiciously as Squirrel sets the candles around the deck and lights them all. Nervous narrow flames flicker in the sea breeze. Squirrel steps back, twenty paces away from her candles, then reaches back into the bag.

_Snift_.

A candle goes out, and a single stone skitters across the deck. Squirrel lowers herself into a crouch, then aims her shanghai at the next candle.

_Snift_.

The stone has not even stopped bouncing when she fires again.

_Snift_. _Snift_. _Snift_. _Snift_. _Snift_. _Snift_. _Snift_. _Snift_.

Jack claps as each of the candles die out, one by one. Squirrel stands up, blushing, and retrieves her ammo. Not a single one has wax on it.

"Well, that's interesting." Jack says, coming over. "When did you learn to do that?"

"My name's S-Squirrel." She blushes. "I th-though I'd l-live up to th-that n-name by doing things that squirrels do." She shrugs. "So I th-throw stones."

"So that's how you fight, Miss Squirrel?" Jack smiles slightly. "Very interesting."

Squirrel retrieves her candles and puts them, her shanghai, and her ammo back into the bag.

"A-about the m-map…" She starts. Jack glares at her slightly.

"What about it, luv?"

Squirrel takes a deep breath. "It's m-mine. A g-gift from m-my father. I w-want it b-back."

Jack considers for a moment, then says, "No."

"Why?" Squirrel asks, outraged.

Jack shrugs, then swaggers back to the helm. "I'm captain here, in case you haven't noticed. I call the shots. And I don't want to be locked in your room again." He grins back at her and winks. "Unless you're going to be in there with me, savvy?"

With a squeak, a red un-cloaked Squirrel clambers up the rigging and crouches in the crow's-nest. She rummages in her bag, pulls out a handful of nuts and starts chewing on them. _Living up to your namesake as Squirrel, all right._ She curses herself. _Hiding in a high place and chewing on nuts, stammering, and throwing rocks. What's next? Hibernating for the winter?_

If it wasn't for sharp-eyed Squirrel being up in the crow's-nest, the dark ship would've crashed right into the Pearl.


	18. Demands

**Disclaimer**: POTC belongs to not me.

* * *

Squirrel looks down over the edge of the crow's-nest and shouts at Jack, who adjusts the course of the ship accordingly. A metal bell rings out in the darkness, and the crew of the Pearl are suddenly wide awake. Soon, the ship is bristling with cannons, and the dark ship pulls up close by, just close enough for figures to be seen and voices heard. Squirrel readies her shanghai, hidden from sight in the crow's-nest. 

"All hands to deck! Dead men tell no tales…" Mister Cotton's parrot squawks from somewhere. Squirrel swallows.

"Ahoy Black Pearl!" A familiar voice rings out in the darkness. Squirrel nearly screams. Her uncle! How did he…?

Jack calls back. "What the hell you want?"

"The Rodent!" A woman's voice screeches back. The sound of someone being hit across the face travels clearly across the water.

"It has come to our attention that Miss Grey's father had a certain map, which he left in his daughter's care."

Squirrel rolls her eyes. Another pre-written speech? "MAKE UP YOUR MINDS!" She screams across the water. "DO YOU WANT THE MAP OR ME?"

There is a shocked silence from both sides. Risking a look down, Squirrel sees Ana give her the thumbs up. Jack chuckles.

Finally, Dawn calls out. "Bring the map to me, Miss Squirrel, and your precious Jack Sparrow won't be hurt!"

Squirrel turns her brightest shade of red yet, and her stomach drops. So Dawn knew. And now, Jack knows. In the silence that follows, Dawn takes this opportunity to call out even more taunts.

"You burned for him, didn't you, Rodent? And not just inside, but you burned yourself on hot metal for him too!"

_Shutupshutupshutupshutup…_

"You took a bullet for him, didn't you? Everything you do is for him! Why, I'd bet you couldn't even read what games he played in the tavern!"

_Shut UP Shut UP Shut UP!_

"So what was it, Squirrel? What was it that made you think you were better than me? What makes you think you have a right to love Captain Jack Sparrow!"

"SHUT UP!" Stone after stone zings across the water, each one only just missing Dawn as she runs back and forth across the deck. "SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE FOR ONCE, BITCH!"

A hand is placed over Squirrel's own. Squirrel looks up, crying, into Anamaria's face.

"Save it, Miss Grey." Ana says gently. "You're wasting your ammunition." Squirrel sobs quietly, dropping her shanghai, as the dark ship drifts closer to the Pearl.

Jack Sparrow and the crew of the Pearl wait. They watch as ropes with grapples cling to the railing, and pull the two ships together. They wait and watch as the crew of the dark ship board the Pearl.

Dawn and her father stand side by side, casting their eyes around for Squirrel. Jack draws his sword.

"I'm so terribly sorry," Jack says, not sorry at all, "But Miss Squirrel is one of us now. She's a crewman of the Pearl." Jack stops, then nods. "Alright, so she's a crew-woman. But I won't hold that against her."

"So where is she?" Dawn hisses, pulling two new pistols from behind her and loading them. "She's alive, so I'm going to have to finish her off."

Jack smiles slightly. "Why? Because you're jealous of her?"

Squirrel hiccups, her tears drying. _Dawn? Jealous of me? Me?_ She and Ana exchange glances.

Dawn scowls, and level the pistols at Jack. "Where is the rodent, Sparrow?"

"From what I've seen of your shooting," Jack says, "You couldn't hit the broad side of a ship. However…" He draws his own pistol. "I've had years more experience at this than you." He motions the pistol downwards. "Drop your guns, 'Aurora'."

A shot rings out, and Jack's three-pointed hat lays spinning on the deck. Dawn's father loads his own pistol again.

"I got Dawn to ask nicely." He grins through his jowls. "Now it's my turn." He fires again, and Jack dances away from the bullet that embeds itself in the wood at his feet. Dawn's father leers. "Hand Squirrel and the map over, and everything will be easier for you."

"Do you know who you're threatening?" Jack says, waving his sword and pistol about. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow! There's no chance that I'm going to be handing over two of the most important things to me to some over-dressed tramp and some walking tub of lard." He grins. "So bugger off, savvy?"

"Jack." Squirrel appears, still red-eyed with tears. "That's enough."

Dawn and her father stare at Squirrel. She stares defiantly back at them.

"Give them the map, Jack. I don't care about my father's gold. If that's all they want, then they can have it." She looks back at Jack. "Just give them the map."

Jack stares at Squirrel. Anamaria turns Squirrel around by the shoulders and yells into her face.

"Are you CRAZY!" She says in her thick accent. "That's your father's last gift to you before he died!"

"Died?" Squirrel's uncle laughs. "No, he didn't die." Squirrel stares at her uncle, amazed. He laughs, "No. Your pa didn't die. I killed him!" He holds his pistol high. "With this very gun!"

"No you didn't." Squirrel mumbles under her breath, trembling slightly. She turns to Jack. "Give them the map, Captain." Squirrel says, voice threatening to crack. "Please, just give them the map." Without her hood to hide her, Squirrel's face is visible to Jack. With a certain reluctance, Jack pulls the yellowed piece of paper from his belt and throws it at Dawn. She catches it between her pistols.

"And Squirrel?" Dawn grins evilly. Squirrel steps forward, bringing her shanghai out from behind her back.

"She's staying here, Dawn." Squirrel grins. "So you can just…" Out of Squirrel's mouth pours a never-ending stream of obscenities. Jack raises both eyebrows, Ana gapes, and Dawn and her father stand staring, unable to do anything, under the three-minute-long stream of curses and insults. Finally, Squirrel stops, gasping for breath. One of the crew-members of the Pearl starts clapping.

"Oh, and one more thing." Squirrel smiles, then fires. The stone hits Dawn at a certain place at her neck. Squirrel's cousin falls over, unconscious. Dawn's father raises his pistol, but Squirrel's shanghai is faster-loading. She smiles sweetly at him, and he scowls back.

Finally, he lowers his pistol and picks up his daughter, slinging her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "You're a fool, Squirrel." He roars. "You think you've won? We have the map!" He waves the piece of paper in the air. "We have Daniel Grey's treasure trove! And you have nothing!" He casts his eye over the crew of the Black Pearl, and grins. "You're no use to anyone here, Squirrel. How can you use your skill at sea?" He throws back his head and laughs. "You're completely useless, Squirrel. A waste of time."

"Thankyou," Squirrel's voice trembles, but no tears threaten to spill out of her eyes. "For reminding me." Ana looks at the girl's angry face.

"Shoot him in the fat arse." She whispers as the man turns and clambers back across to his ship. "It's a target you can never miss."

Squirrel grins, then fires. Her uncle yelps, and drops Dawn on the deck of his ship. The crew of the Pearl roar with laughter. Laughter that continues until the dark ship has sailed well out of sight.

But no-one laughs longer than Squirrel.

"What are _you_ laughing about?" Gibbs says, incredulous. "You lost the map! You lost your father's last gift to you!"

"I did?" Squirrel giggles, wiping a tear from her eye. Gibbs stares, open-mouthed.

Jack squints. "You gave me a fake map, didn't you!"

Squirrel nods, still giggling. "I knew my Uncle wouldn't give up unless he gets the map. And he'd believe it if it was from the Captain himself."

"So he knew about it? Your uncle knew about the map?" Another crewman asks. Squirrel shrugs.

"My father kept records of his dealings with other people. Just like I do. So there was bound to be something in those records which would have something to say about a map." Squirrel giggles again.

"Nice to see you've gotten over your stammer." Anamaria says dryly. Squirrel flushes a pale pink but keeps giggling.

"So where's the real map?" Jack asks eagerly.

Squirrel smiles teasingly. "Safe and hidden."

Jack puts on a pleading face, but Squirrel shakes her head.

"So…" Gibbs scratches his head. "What was on the map that your uncle got, Miss?"

Squirrel grins. "Jack's been there before."

The crew all turn and stare at Jack. It takes a moment for Jack to realise.

"The rum-runner's island!" He says, chuckling. "I knew it looked familiar!" He frowns at Squirrel. "But how did you know about it, luv?"

Squirrel pinks again, then imitates Jack's voice and facial expression. "Why is th' rum gone!"

Jack scowls. "I'm going to KILL Elizabeth next I see her." The crew roar with laughter along with Squirrel.

**

* * *

A/N:** TBC, ob-V-ous-Lee. 


	19. She Remembers

**Disclaimer**: see first chapter.

* * *

"So was Dawn telling the truth?" Ana and Squirrel sit side-by-side. Ana is teaching Squirrel how to sew. "Do you really love Jack Sparrow?" 

"E-ever s-since I s-s-saw him-m-m…" Squirrel looks up, apologetically. "S-Sorry, b-but when I t-talk about J-Jack, I s-stutter."

Ana raises an eyebrow, grinning. "I see."

The two women sit in silence for a moment, both working on repairing the tears and tattered edges of their clothes. Even though it's very late, none of the crew seems able to get back to sleep. Sewing, however, is a simple task, enough to occupy her mind, and it's very useful too. Squirrel wonders why she never taught herself to do this.

"I don't mean to pry." Ana says, conversationally, "But how old are you, anyway."

Squirrel mumbles something. Ana stabs herself with her needle in surprise.

"Really?" She says, sucking her bleeding finger. "But you don't look a day over sixteen!" Squirrel shrugs, pinking again with a smile. Ana's tone turns jealous. "What's your secret?"

Squirrel smiles sadly, shaking out her cloak and re-examining it. "Being picked on and beaten for my entire life, barely eating anything other than nuts, and hiding from any other human being."

Ana goes back to her sewing. "Sorry I asked."

Squirrel shrugs, then turns her attention to her old clothes. They are in dire need of repair. The door opens, and Jack bursts in.

"Skirrel!" He yells. "Gimme th' MAP!" Squirrel notices a bottle of rum in one of his hands.

"Oh, push off, Captain!" Ana shouts. "We're sewing!"

Jack stares at Ana, or at least, in Ana's general direction, then laughs, belches, and swaggers out of Squirrel's cabin. Ana rolls her eyes.

"Ana's sewing! Ana's sewing!" Jack's voice echoes across the deck, and there is laughter from some of the crew. Ana gets to her feet, scowling.

"Excuse me, Miss Grey." She goes outside. There's a slap, then the sound of someone hitting the deck with an 'Oomph!', and then Ana comes back into the cabin, triumph etched on her features.

"No offence or anything, Squirrel." Ana says, shutting the door quietly behind her, "But you have very strange taste."

Squirrel laughs. Ana smiles as she sits down next to Squirrel.

"You should do that more often, you know." Ana comments. Squirrel looks up, confused.

"Do what?"

"Smile." Ana says, keeping her eyes on her sewing. "Smile, laugh, or at least show your face. You're very pretty, you know. You shouldn't hide behind that cloak."

Squirrel stabs herself with her needle and yelps. As she sucks the wound, she says dryly, "You're not the first to say that, Ana. But I…" She falters.

Ana looks at Squirrel carefully for a moment. "But…?"

Squirrel stares down at her cloak. It's as good as new now. "I guess I'm not a people person. I've been mistreated by everyone I knew in my past, and had people I loved taken from me. My mother, and then my father…" Big fat tears plop onto the cloak like rain. Squirrel tries to wipe them away, first from the cloak, secondly from her eyes. "I-I-I'm s-sorry." She mumbles. "I d-don't know w-why I'm c-cryin' over this n-now."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Anamaria puts aside her sewing, and places her arm around Squirrel's shoulder. With a shuddering sigh, Squirrel tells her story. The story of her family. The story of the Lady Grey.

* * *

Daniel Grey was famous in Tortuga for being a weakling. He never lifted a sword against anyone, never fired a pistol when insulted, never stole, fought or swore. You get all types in Tortuga, it was said, and Daniel was proof enough of that. He married a lass named Rose, and there were rumours abounding that Mrs Grey was the daughter of a powerful nobleman in some Jamaican fort city, who had smuggled herself to Tortuga. However, though she became known as the Lady Grey, Daniel himself never took up the title of Lord Grey. He was always Daniel. 

About a year later, Rose and Daniel rejoiced at the birth of their first child. A daughter. As the years went by, Daniel strove to provide a safe life for his daughter, making sure she was hidden from the men and woman of Tortuga, kept from the rabble and the evil of the streets. Rose doted on her only child, teaching her to read and write, and, after an incident when their daughter turned ten, she taught her how to hide, how to run, how to use a simple slingshot to fight if needs be, and how to blend into crowds and not be noticed.

Little did they know it, but their daughter was finding out about this evil world she lived in. Remembering her mother and father's advice, she slid from shadow to shadow, day after day, watching the world from the rooftops and riggings of homes and ships. She saw people dying, fighting, flaunting, drinking… and gambling. It was not long afterwards that the young Miss Grey discovered she had a talent for reading games, reading people's thoughts, being able to predict the rolls of dice, the plays of cards, the outcomes of a fight, or even the way the weather could change.

At the age of thirteen, Miss Grey revealed this power to her parents. Miss Grey sought out games in the streets, placed her own bets with the men and woman, and brought home money enough to keep her family alive. Daniel and Rose Grey, now worried about the future of their daughter in such a horrible place, were not comforted. Such a talent would be useful to many pirates in Tortuga, and their daughter was only a young girl with an impressionable mind. So Daniel went to the only person he thought he could trust.

His half-brother.

Rose hid with her daughter, fearing that Daniel might betray her daughter unintentionally. Night fell, dawn came, another night and day passed. Daniel Grey did not return. Rose, panicked that something might've happened to her husband, risked the streets of Tortuga and went to her half-brother-in-law's tavern.

Daniel was there, drunk. His half-brother had guessed Daniel's daughter was valuable, and was forcing the information out of Daniel, drink by drink. Rose ran to her husband, trying to wake him, trying to stop him from betraying his family. Daniel, twisted by the rum, drew his sword and stabbed his wife, not realising who it was. When the rum-haze cleared, he saw the blood on his sword, his wife dead on the floor, and his only daughter staring at him in horror, tears rolling down her face.

The sword turned, and Daniel impaled himself, dying alongside his wife, leaving Miss Grey abandoned and orphaned. Before anyone could catch her, the young Miss Grey leapt up into the rafters of the tavern and ran until she could run no more.

In the comfort of her own home, the young girl closed her mind, forcing herself to forget everything. Someone killed her parents, and she didn't know who. The slight stutter she was born with increased ten-fold with the shock she received. Surrounded by a loving family all her life, the girl sought out the only family she knew she had left, as if to get back what she had lost. She wanted family again, so she turned to the only family she knew.

Her uncle.

At first, Miss Grey's uncle refused to take care of her. Undaunted, and naively trusting what was left of her family, she revealed her talent in knowing the outcomes of games of chance. For about a year afterwards, Miss Grey's uncle took care of her, and in return, Miss Grey helped her uncle keep most of the gold spent by patrons on his tavern's gambling tables. Then Dawn appeared.

A bastard daughter by one of Tortuga's many prostitutes, Dawn made herself indispensable in the tavern, attracting customers and lovers both. Soon, Miss Grey's welcome was worn out. But she had nowhere else to go, so she stayed, thinking the fault hers that Dawn and her uncle beat her every day, thinking the fault hers that she was a slim, timid girl with a stutter like a squirrel's. And that became her name. Squirrel. Once a fond family nickname, it became a name of a girl that was useless, a girl to be picked on, a girl with no family, no friends, and no hope of survival.

When dreams are gone and hopes are dead, it takes a miracle before they can be rekindled. After ten years working in the dank hole of the tavern, after ten years of mental and physical torture, Miss Squirrel Grey found out what it was like to fall in love.

And she fell in love Captain Jack Sparrow, captain of the Black Pearl.

* * *

**A/N**: -.- like I said, this is a really old fanfic that I've just decided to post. Nitpics as well as well as kudos are welcomed. 


	20. When He's Sober

**Disclaimer**: Not mine is POTC.

**A/N**: It's official. This is the longest-running fanfic I have ever done.

* * *

Squirrel wipes the tears from her eyes. Ana gives her a quick hug. 

"It's s-strange, really." Squirrel tries to smile. "I never realised that I had forgotten what happened."

"Miss Grey?" Ana says gently. "I am honoured that you would share such a story with me."

Squirrel nods her head slightly. "You're w-welcome."

"I won't tell a soul." Ana swears, putting her hand to her heart. "I won't even tell the Captain. Even if he orders me. Even if he threatens me." Ana pauses. "Unless, that is, you want me to tell him."

"No," Squirrel shakes her head. "I'd rather tell him myself." Squirrel reaches for her amulet, and pulls the map out from inside it. "And I'll have to give him this as well."

Squirrel unfolds and stares at the map for some time. Ana peers over Squirrel's shoulder at the yellowed piece of paper.

"What do you think it could be?" The black woman asks gently. "What do you think your father's treasure is?"

"I d-don't know." Squirrel admits. "I didn't even know he had a treasure. He wasn't a pirate, and as far as I know, he never left Tortuga."

"Then how is there a treasure if he never left…?" Ana leaves the question unanswered, and they both stare at the map. Finally, Squirrel folds it up and slides it back into her amulet.

"When Jack's s-sober again, I-I'll give it to him."

"You'll be waiting a while." Ana comments dryly.

The women exchange glances, and without warning, they both collapse into a helpless fit of laughter.


	21. Deja Vu

**Disclaimer**: POTC isn't mine

**A/N**: I would just like to remind my readers that I wrote this fic based on my first impressions of the characters and the plot. I'd only seen the movie twice by this stage, so, obviously, I know things now that I didn't before. Ergo, some things may be inaccurate. I apologise.

* * *

As it turns out, however, Jack is sober well before the sun rises. The entire crew also want to know about the map, and crowd around to get a glimpse at the tattered piece of paper which Miss Grey guards with her life. It very reluctantly passes from her hands to Jack's. 

He glares at her slightly. "This is the real one this time, right?" She nods, smiling gently.

In the starlight, the crew of the Pearl read the map, and by the time the sun rises, a small island is in sight.

"Bit of a barren rock, 'in it?" Jack comments, swaggering up the deck. Squirrel frowns at the approaching island, her hands gripping the railing until her knuckles turn white. Jack places a hand on her shoulder, frowning.

"You okay?" He asks. Squirrel jumps.

"What?" She realises Jack has asked her a question. "Mmm. I'm f-fine."

Jack gives her a sideways glance. "You don't look fine."

"There's something familiar…" Squirrel shakes her head. "But it can't be. I've never left Tortuga in my life. There's no way that I…" Squirrel bites her lip, frowning.

Jack leans on the railing next to her, and lowers his voice. "I don't really know 'ow to say this, luv, but what that girl… wossername… Dawn… What she said last night…"

Squirrel swallows, pinking again. "What about it?"

Jack seems equally uncomfortable. "Eh… Dammit, Squirrel, I've never talked to someone like this before…" He takes a deep breath and straightens up. "Was what she said, about you in love with me and all, was that true?"

Squirrel swallows again. "Yes. Yes it is."

Jack nods, and turns to go. Squirrel sighs. Jack comes back. Squirrel holds her breath again.

"So… umm…"

"Y-y-yes?"

Silence.

"Why do you think the island looks familiar? I mean, if you've never left Tortuga…"

Squirrel shrugs, turning her attention back to the island. "I h-have no id-d-dea." She frowns again, trying to remember, then shakes her head. "M-maybe once w-we land, I might b-be able to…" Squirrel bites her lip again.

"Ok. Fine. Jus' checking." As Jack ambles away, Squirrel catches sight of Jack's face. She grins despite herself.

He wanders back again a few seconds later. "Want to play a quick game of War before we begin our treasure hunt?" Jack holds up a pack of cards.

"Sure." Squirrel smiles, and sits down on the deck opposite Jack. Squirrel and Jack play until Anamaria calls out from the helm that the Pearl is as close as she can go. With a slight smile, Jack scoops all the cards into a pile and tucks them into his belt.

"Another game when we come back?" He asks hopefully. Squirrel nods, her heart thundering. But this time it isn't Jack that's the cause of it. She looks over at the tiny island, wondering why she feels like she's been there before.


	22. Green Tortuga

**Disclaimer**: POTC isn't mine.

* * *

Only a handful of crew members set foot on the island. Jack takes the lead, map in hand, followed closely by Squirrel, Ana, Gibbs and Mister Cotton. Mister Cotton's parrot flits through the trees like a winged child. 

"Pieces of eight!" He squawks at Squirrel. Squirrel looks back over her shoulder at Mister Cotton, wondering if it is the pirate excited about the treasure, or the parrot wanting another nut. In the end, Squirrel decides it's both, and gives the blue-and-yellow bird a walnut and the pirate a slight smile. The bird sits silently on his owner's shoulder from then on, trying desperately to crack the round shell open, muttering in frustration every time it slips.

As the small party treks further and further inland, Squirrel can't help but be overcome with strong feelings of deja vu. That rock… she sat on it once. That tree… she climbed. That section of sand… she made a sandcastle there once. But everywhere around her is the heavy oppressive feeling of fear. She was hiding here, scared of something. She wishes she brought her cloak, so she can shrink into it and make the bad feeling go away. Something terrible had happened here.

_But why can't I remember?_

After a while, Ana notices Squirrel's tortured expression, and calls to Jack to slow down. Squirrel leans heavily against a tree, trying to catch her breath. As soon as she realises she had leant against the same tree in exactly the same way, she leaps aside with a short yelp.

"I've been here!" Squirrel explains to a confused bunch of pirates. "I know I have. I just can't remember when…"

Jack and Ana exchange glances, then Jack hands Squirrel the map. "Maybe it would be better if you lead the way then, luv. Unless you want to go back to the ship…?"

"No." Squirrel takes the map and staggers onwards. "I have to know. I have to."

Every few steps, Squirrel slows, seeing something she recognises, something else that prods her in the right direction. Soon, she doesn't need the map to know where to go. She hands it back to Jack and moves ahead.

After about five minutes of walking inland, the group reach the spot which is marked with an 'X' on the map - a sandy clearing under several huge trees which engulf the space like walls and a roof. Suddenly, Squirrel realises why this place seems so familiar. Squirrel looks around the clearing, seeing with sudden clarity where she is.

"It's Tortuga!" She nearly screams. Everyone looks at her as if she's crazy. But Squirrel casts her mind back. That rock was a bench, the tree was an old ship they had grounded and turned into a tavern - the 'Fallen Angel', and the patch of beach where she once built a sandcastle… That was the beach at Tortuga where Squirrel sat and ate her breakfast every morning. And the feeling of fear that seems to be everywhere, like a bad smell… It's what she felt everyday of her life, hiding, running, slipping between shadows and crates. It's what she lived with every day while in her uncle's tavern.

It is as if someone designed this island to resemble her home.

"Now that you mention it," Ana comments, "The way we came did remind me of the streets you walk from the docks, past the 'Fallen Angel', then towards the gate-house district." She looks around thoughtfully. "I feel like we're inside a house now…"

"My house." Squirrel licks her lips, eyes flickering back and forth. "And that means my father's treasure is right here. In 'Tortuga'."

Jack chuckles. "So you're good ol' daddy never left Tortuga at all, did he?"

Gibbs looks around, scratching his chin. "So what do we do? Start digging? Or is there some secret passageway in your 'house' that we should know about, Miss Grey?"

Squirrel's eyes flick back and forth, then up. Without a word, the girl clambers up a tree, which has rungs carved into the side of it. Everyone's heads crane backwards as Squirrel disappears into the foliage.

"In the attic!" Squirrel's voice and a few dead leaves come down to them. "We always kept everything in the attic!" There is a creak in the branches, and several vines fall away to reveal a wooden platform. The wood is rotten and weak.

"Be careful, you fool!" Ana calls up.

"We didn't come all this way for you to die!" Jack says at the same time.

Squirrel stares across the wooden rafters set high in the trees. She risks a brief look down, and instantly regrets it. It's much higher up here than it was in the rafters of her uncle's tavern, or in the attic of her home long ago.

_I must be at least ten metres up!_ Squirrel thinks, shifting her weight carefully from foot to foot, setting the ancient timbers creaking. _Chance of finding this 'treasure'?_ Squirrel spots a chest wedged in the middle of the framework. She smiles slightly. _100 per cent_. She takes a careful step forward.

Something creaks and snaps. Squirrel leaps back, grabbing onto the tree as a plank gives way beneath her and tumbles to the forest floor. The pirates below call out in alarm.

"Squirrel!"

"You alright?"

_Chance of me actually reaching the treasure?_ Squirrel stares at the mouldy wood. _34 per cent._ Suddenly, a memory comes floating back to her.

Last night, Jack had said, "_There's no chance that I'm going to be handing over two of the most important things to me to some over-dressed tramp_…!" One was the map. So that means the other was…

Another piece of timber gives way, tumbling to the ground in a shower of wood flakes. Squirrel swallows, forcing the thought away, then looks closer at the chest. _If this framework falls away,_ she casts her eyes quickly around the area, scanning it quickly like she scans card and dice players_, Then the chest will stay up here, held up by vines and plants that have grown around it. So if I want to get the chest, I have to get it now!_ With a muttered curse, Squirrel slowly and carefully makes her way across the rotted wood. Her soft leather shoes hardly make a sound, but the wood itself creaks every time a leaf falls on it. She's slim for her age, and light enough not to disturb much more than a few leaves. Every now and then, Squirrel has to find another piece of wood to stand on, as even her light weight threatens to collapse the whole structure. Ana, Jack, Gibbs and Mister Cotton's parrot call up words of encouragement, but Squirrel can barely hear them. Her entire focus is on the chest.

There's a snap under her, and Squirrel falls through the hole. Thinking quickly, she snaps her legs around a branch and heaves herself upright. _Just like I did in the Port Royal blacksmiths_, she thinks briefly, then tiptoes onwards, carefully moving towards the chest.

"Got it!" Squirrel leaps onto the chest as the entire framework gives way beneath her. The vines are strong, and only stretch briefly under her added weight. She looks down cautiously. The pirates pick themselves up from where they took cover from the falling debris.

"I got it!" Squirrel calls down. "But now I'm stuck!"

Ana shades her eyes, staring up into the mass of branches and vines. "Stuck? How?"

"I'm caught in the vines… But I have the chest!"

"Drop it down then!" Ana calls.

"Don't drop it!" Gibbs calls up. "Open it first, Miss Grey! Find out if it's breakable, then tell us whether it's safe for you to drop it down!"

"Pieces of eight! SQUAWK!"

Squirrel frowns. _Too much information!_ But it would be a heavy blow if, after all this time, her father's treasure would be accidentally destroyed. Taking a deep breath, Squirrel repositions herself in the vines, and faces the lock. Another flash of memory surfaces. Taking the amulet from her neck, she slides the coin into the wide hole and turns it. With a click, the lock comes undone.

Squirrel slips the amulet back around her neck, and slowly lifts the lid of the chest. The first thing Squirrel pulls out a piece of paper, covered in red wax. "To Whom It May Concern" is scratched into the wax. Squirrel scrapes it away, careful not to tear the paper itself. She reads the letter slowly, hardly able to believe what she sees.

"Ahoy up there!" Jack calls. "You still alive, Squirrel?"

"Yes." Is the reply. After a moment, it's followed by a short laugh, and then, "I'm dropping the chest now! Stand clear!"

A heavy metal box falls from the trees and lands in the soil below with a thunk. A length of vine slithers down from the heights, and Squirrel shimmies down on it, a paper in her hand.

"Open it, lass!" Gibbs says, rubbing his hands together with glee. "What's in there?"

"You can have it." Squirrel says, smiling slightly. "All I want is this." She waves the paper in the air. When the pirates look at her strangely, she only smiles, then opens the chest for them.

Squirrel watches their reactions with a smile. _They're pirates, all right._ She thinks, _They can't take their eyes off that chest. Well, I guess its payment for saving my life and taking me this far._ Squirrel sits down on the ground and reads through the letter again.


	23. A Mother's Love

**Disclaimer**: I wish POTC be mine, but it ain't.

* * *

"Look at this!" Ana holds up yet another string of pearls. "How many of them are there?" She slips it over her head. 

"Pieces of eight!" Mister Cotton's parrot squawks, holding a huge gold coin in his beak. "PIECES OF EIGHT!" Mister Cotton and Gibbs each hold handfuls of gold and silver coins, each one twice as big as any they've every seen before. They might as well be holding very expensive saucers and plates.

Only Jack isn't interested in the treasure. Not much, anyway. After a good look through the chest's contents, he wanders over to where Squirrel is sitting.

"What's this?" He asks, poking the paper. "A letter from your dad?"

Squirrel laughs softly. "No. It's from my mother, a-actually."

"Yore mother?" Jack frowns. "What's she got to do with it?"

With a smile, Squirrel holds the paper so Jack can read it.

'_If you've managed to open this chest by means of force,'_ the letter reads,_ 'Then I have nothing to say to you. However, if you had the key, and you are who I think you are… Then I must apologise. Squirrel, my darling daughter, I shouldn't've kept this from you, but your father and I both decided we wouldn't tell you until your sixteenth birthday. I wonder, though, if you have discovered this sooner_.'

"Your sixteenth birthday?" Jack frowns at Squirrel.

Squirrel nods. "Three years after they both died."

'_Yes, Squirrel_,' The letter continues, '_I am a noblewoman. However, as your father was only a merchant, he thought he didn't deserve the title of Lord Grey, which was why I left my hometown and settled in Tortuga._

'_In this box is all that's left of my family inheritance. My father thought it wise to send me gifts to keep the family alive, but when he found out that I was in 'the lowest of all the scum-holes in Jamaica', he stopped sending them. So I collected what I could and hid them here. We, your father and I, left clues for you, Squirrel. I hope you noticed them all._

'_Squirrel, my darling daughter, I hope you aren't angry with either me or your father for hiding this, but we want you to know that we loved each other dearly. Just as we love you. As I'm writing this, Squirrel, I can see your father giving you that amulet, the key to the chest we're going to put all of my gifts in. You're a beautiful girl, Squirrel, and I can see you growing to be a beautiful woman. Words cannot convey how much your father and I love you, Squirrel. But know that you have it._

'_From your mother, Lady Rose Grey._' The handwriting changes. '_And your father, Daniel Grey. (You're mother's got quite a way with words, don't she, lass?)_'

Jack looks over at Squirrel, who simply sits, smiling slightly. After a moment, Jack puts his arms around her shoulders.

"Yore mother was right." He says gently. "You are a beautiful young woman."

Squirrel feels the flush on her face and her heart increasing speed in her chest. Perfectly normal. She smiles.

"Like I said," Jack says, "I've never really talked to anyone like this before… An' I… Aww, crap." Squirrel laughs, seeing the tips of Jack's ears glow red.

"Would it be safe to assume, then," Squirrel whispers, "That you're not exactly sure how to tell a girl you love her?"

Jack nods, biting his lip.

Squirrel leans close and whispers in his ear. "I love you."

Jack grins. "Yeah, that'll work." He clears his throat, opens his mouth, but seems unable to speak. Squirrel looks up, and sees Ana, Gibbs, Mister Cotton and Mister Cotton's parrot all staring at them.

Squirrel waves the letter in the air, and pulls herself to her feet. "As it t-turns out," She says, grinning inanely, "That the treasure's not from my father. It's from my mother."

"Oh," Ana says, a knowing smile on her face and a grin in the direction of Jack. "So that's why there's so much of it. Squirrel's mother was a rich noblewoman," She explains to Gibbs and Mister Cotton.

"So what are you going to do with all this swag?" Gibbs asks, tipping his handful of coins back into the chest.

"She's letting us have it!" Jack comes over, grinning. "And since she's now officially a pirate, and a crew-woman on the Pearl, I see no reason why she shouldn't get a cut of it!"

"Aztec gold!" The parrot squawks.

"Cottony's right." Gibbs nods. "We'd best be a-sure there's no curse on this gold."

Squirrel laughs. "Of c-course there isn't. Besides." Squirrel looks down and scuffs her feet in the dirt. "Since I don't have a family now… Well…" Her face reddens slightly. "I would be honoured if you would…"

"Take the treasure and become your family?" Ana grins, her teeth as white as the pearl necklaces she wears around her neck. "It would be a pleasure, Miss Grey."

"You already are part of our family, luv." Jack says to Squirrel, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Ever since you set foot on the Pearl, you've been part of our family."

Squirrel blushes bright red, but smiles. "Thank you." She says, "All of you."

Each of the pirates incline their heads in turn.

"So what now?" Jack says, as he and Squirrel walk back to the Pearl. Gibbs and Mister Cotton carry the chest, and Ana walks behind them, snapping at them to hurry up, that they're dropping the chest, et cetera.

"Tortuga." Squirrel says with a slight smile. Jack looks at her as if she's crazy. Squirrel smiles at him. "No hurry, of course." She explains. "Maybe in a month or two." She looks thoughtful. "I would like to visit Elizabeth again, though."

Jack grits his teeth. "Not so she can tell you more lies about me, I hope?"

"Lies?" Squirrel looks at Jack quizzically. "How so?"

"Once we get back to the Pearl," Jack says, "I'll tell you what REALLY happened. Oh, and Squirrel?" He stops, and waits until Ana, Gibbs and Mister Cotton have passed by and are out of earshot. "I love you." He leans down and kisses her.

Squirrel feels herself going red from head to toe, but can't help but thinking it is the best feeling in the world. _Chances of this feeling ever happening again? _She wonders automatically. _100 per cent._

**

* * *

A/N:** Hey, if I posted the sequel, would anyone be interested in reading it? … Yes, I wrote a sequel. I wanted to flesh out the characters a bit more. So shoot me. 


	24. Miss Me?

**Disclaimer**: POTC rocks. Can't wait for two and three.

**A/N**: I apologise for the excessive description in this chapter, but it had to be done.

* * *

The serving girl picks up the broken glass of someone's rum bottle, casting longing glances back towards the kitchen. Ever since that girl waltzed into the tavern, life had gone from bad to worse. If it wasn't enough to be beaten every night for failing to clean up a drunkard's vomit, or leaving behind a single plate to be stole or broken, or for even forgetting to bring the tavern owner's food, but to be ousted from her father's favour by this… this bastard girl! 

Now this bastard wore the serving girl's fine dresses, wore her makeup, and attracted men which had once been her lovers… The world wasn't fair. Didn't anyone care that her father had died, falling from the docks and hitting his head on a hidden rock? Sure, he was drunk at the time, but he was her father! He owned this tavern! Surely that accounted for something!

"Oi!" One of the tavern patrons, a man with mutton-chops, calls out, waving an empty rum bottle, "Another ale, wench!"

Wench? The serving girl grinds her teeth. Wench! She was a queen once! A queen! She lived like royalty on this all-forsaken rock, Tortuga. She had everything: wealth, power, respect. She had a servant! Well, given, it was only another serving girl, but she had power over her! And now it was gone. With her father's death, everything was gone.

The serving girl bows, then heads towards the bar to get another rum for the sailor with the mutton-chops. She frowns as she passes the bottle to him. His face seems familiar. Now that she thinks about it, a lot of patrons in the tavern look familiar tonight. That man in that corner with a parrot on his shoulder. That short man sitting atop one of the barrels. That Negro woman with the glaring eyes. They all seemed familiar, and they are all watching her. The serving girl feels herself cringe slightly.

Why are they all looking at her like that?

The door flies open, and two more patrons come in. The serving girl looks up. And stares. That's Captain Jack Sparrow!

The last time she saw him, it was about a month ago. He was grinning, waving about a sword and gun, laughing at the serving girl and her father. Then … wait…. The serving girl looks closer. Jack Sparrow has a woman under his arm. The serving girl grins triumphantly.

So the incident a month ago has been resolved. Jack Sparrow ran off and left that girl, going after someone else, just as the serving girl knew he would. It seems he left Squirrel for someone with long brown hair, dressed in a white blouse and blue leggings, a blue-grey cloak draped around her shoulders. He left Squirrel for a girl who wears gold bracelets on each wrist. The serving girl snorts. That silver ring has to be decoration. Jack Sparrow doesn't marry. Not the most infamous pirate in all of the Caribbean. That would cramp his style.

The woman and Jack exchange brief words, then enter the tavern. Jack pulls out a seat for the woman at an empty table, and she sits, laughing and smiling. The serving girl feels something tug inside her. This girl, smiling like that, looking so happy… and Jack Sparrow, with the same expression! What in the world is going on?

Jack saunters off and sits at the bar, watching his girl. The serving girl swallows a mouthful of bile, then slides through the crowds and fights of the bar towards the woman. She'd rather serve her than that… Jack Sparrow… any day.

"Can I get you something, miss?" The serving girl asks over the noise in the tavern.

"Another rum." The woman grins. "Aurora."

The serving girl stares, feeling the blood drain from her face. She stares, her mouth opening and closing.

"Another rum, Aurora." The woman repeats, smiling gently.

Finally, a squeak comes from the serving girl. "Squirrel?"

Dawn stares at her cousin, then at Jack, where he sits at the bar, then slowly, one by one, at the smiling and waving crew of the Black Pearl. Finally, she comes full circle and stares at Squirrel again.

Squirrel grins. "M-miss m-me?"

**FIN.**

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**A/N**: I would like to take the time to thank my biggest fans, because you guys took the time to make me feel special.

_Samwise of the Celeb-Gur  
Mrs Capt Jack Sparrows  
AJ-Sparrow  
Desdemona the Slayer  
Ty  
Stableperson  
IndiaPyro  
Agey  
VeganHippie  
_and of course, _Nerwen _and _Tinuviel_. Have a safe flight home, you two. I'll miss you!

Thanks so much for reading - and have no fear, for the sequel shall be posted soon. **n-n!**


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